Ice Lightening
by DizzlyPuzzled
Summary: Running can sometimes give us the strangest out lay of the past, and sometimes clues as to what the future will hold. First trust, and then that leap of faith in someone...
1. Prologue

Ice Lightening

Prologue

_"Where I was born and where and how I live is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."_

_George O'Keefe_

* * *

The stars were bright out, and the moon was new. The air was cold and crisp. He kept to the shadows knowing no one would know he was even there. Unfortunately, another shadow was stalking the streets looking for his next prey when he saw him standing at the end of an alley looking around for anyone to show up. The shadow smiled smugly as his white eyes narrowed down at the boy.

The boy had black hair and cold dark blue eyes, and he was extremely thin and boney. His face was pale, and he was looking around nervously waiting for something. The shadow smirked and disappeared in a shadow. He slowly made his way over to the boy who stopped twitching and stayed completely still.

"Well, what are you doing?" he asked in a dark, taunting voice, fully prepared to take whatever the boy had on him. The boy turned around and glared at the guy then vanished into thin air. "He's a meta-human? This could work in my favor," Ebon muttered slipping away smirking at the plan forming in his head. Another member to his gang, especially one that could disappear like that would ensure his victory against the so called hero in Dakota.

* * *

Danny was running down the road invisible since he met that guy. He knew that this town had meta-humans, so he figured he would fit in just fine and be able to use his powers. Make some minor changes to his ghost outfit and some serious changes to his human form, and no one would know who he is and where he came from. Now his ghost form had a black cloak clipped together with a dark green gem. The inside of the cloak had white and he had his hood up most of the time. It was a simple change, but people wouldn't really look twice and double check to see if this was the ghost of Amity Park. No one seemed to care anymore anyway.

Danny looked around and seen Static, the hero of Dakota. He only had to save a few lives, and he was considered a hero. Danny had to work to get the title and even then some people still believe he was only here to terrorize and hurt humans. They still questioned his loyalty, even after he almost gave his afterlife for them. He had saved hundreds of lives and the world, and people still didn't like him. Static comes and everyone loves him without him really having to risk his life like Danny did. Danny glared at him. He knew being a hero was hard, but here, they all loved their hero, no one seemed to question him besides his enemies. Back home for Danny, everyone questioned him. From classmates to the innocent civilian he saved, they all didn't know what to believe. Here was different, Static saved a couple of lives, and now he is the biggest hero since the League.

"I guess that because of that accident, they don't know who was in the area," Danny whispered as he teleported to another alley next to a gym that was having the homeless come and enjoy a warm meal. He slowly walked in hoping not to get anyone's attention. He looked around and seen the guy that was coordinating the event.

"Hey, watch it," some guy yelled at the teen. "I'm tryin' to get though here, kid." Danny glared at the man.

"I wasn't moving, you were the one not paying attention," Danny shot back knowing his eyes were green. Then another kid came.

"It's okay, Mr. Thomas," he calmed looking back at Danny. "There's nothing to get mad about." The man growled and backed away heading for the counter. Danny looked back at the new teen. "My name's Virgil," he greeted kindly holding out his hand.

"My is…" Danny stopped to think. "Danny." He figured it was a common enough name and he liked it, so what would be the point in changing it. Plus people would believe he would change it to be safe, so not changing would help keep them off his trail anyway.

"Well, Danny," Virgil grinned. "I haven't seen you around before. Where do you come from?"

"No where important," Danny whispered looking down letting his eyes wonder around the room. Virgil noticed.

"Come on, you can meet my pops. And we can get you something to eat. You look like you haven't eaten anything in a while," he smiled gently leading Danny over to the big man that was greeting the people as they walked in. "Pops!"

"Yeah, Son?" Robert acknowledged looking at his son and the young teen that was next to him. "Who's this?"

"This is Danny, he's new apparently," Virgil muttered sadly looking at the teen. Danny flinched and looked at all the possible exits hoping for a quick escape in case they were going to push questions on him. Virgil noticed but didn't say anything.

"Well, then why don't we get you something eat, Danny?" Robert smiled at the teen that looked at him nervously.

"Okay," he whispered. The last time he ate was something small the previous morning. His ghost side was trying to keep him going, but even it knew that he still needed some food.

"So, Danny, what made you leave?" Virgil asked wondering why he would want to leave home. It was a rude question, but sometimes that's all that was needed for someone to realize that they left for something stupid. Especially when it came to teens, so Virgil hoped that maybe Danny would think twice and go home once he really seen his reasoning. Robert sent a small glare at Virgil for being so blunt to someone about something that was probably painful for them to remember.

"There are many reasons," Danny mumbled quietly. Robert stopped and looked at the teen.

"Danny, is there are problems at home? You can always go to the police. They will help you," he explained kneeling in front of him to look into his eyes. He was surprised to see someone who was older and haunted than what the teen's body showed.

"I know. I wish it was that easy," Danny murmured looking down. Virgil walked over to the counter and got a plate of food for him.

"Whatever the problem is, I can help. I help teens who are troubled and need someone to look up to for help," Robert offered smiling at Danny. Danny looked up. "Whatever it is, I'm sure that me and some of my friends could help you with."

"My problems aren't normal," he whispered looking out the small window. Robert looked at him and seemed to understand something.

"Even if you're a bang baby, they aren't going to care," Robert guessed smiling at the teen believing he was right.

"That would be nice," Danny smiled. "Only I'm not a bang baby. I've been here long enough to know what goes on, but that would not be a problem for me. I got here after all that."

"Well then, you can still talk to me about it. I won't tell anyone," Robert informed wondering what the teen had gotten into, and Danny felt like he was telling truth. He had heard stories of him helping kids deal with all kinds of problems while he was in the city.

"Yeah, but I also don't know you all that well," Danny countered looking at the plate that was in front of him. "I just met you, and I don't trust you." Robert nodded.

"Let's get to know each other then," he offered smiling. Then everything went wrong.

* * *

**Danny: She's taking Seeing Sounds off her plate for now...**

**Me: For that, I'm simply putting a story I have randomly worked on...I have the next chapter half done on this...**

**Danny: She's also considering actually writing a book and trying to get published...**

**Me: I started on my own book that I hope to one day be a published author...**

**Danny: She will only work on these three stories, and will probably update them one after another...depending on if she works on her story more often.**

**Me: I hope to be able to get all done...I know BH is coming to an end here soon, so no worries there...**


	2. Secret of Phantom

Ice Lightening

Chapter 1

Secret of Phantom

_"It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you've wanted to do so badly."_

_Charles Lindbergh_

* * *

"I can't help you if you don't talk," Robert informed looking into Danny's dark eyes. "You said that you had problems, and if you want help, you have to tell me what those problems are." Danny looked up at him.

"I know, but that's a problem," he muttered. Virgil was watching him closely, feeling like he could be threat at any moment. There was suddenly something odd about the teen they were dealing with, and Virgil could feel it. His powers were slowly starting to respond to the kid. "I can't tell you."

"Whatever it is, it can't hurt you anymore," Virgil put in as his temper was slowly rising. "You need help, and the only way to get it is to tell us what's going on." Danny stood up.

"No, that would only cause it to get worse," Danny glared at Virgil, and then stopped and smirked. "Huh, interesting." Virgil faltered. Robert looked confused at them both.

"What are you doing?" Virgil asked as Danny walked to him.

"Does he know?" Danny asked walking around Virgil. "If he did, then this conversation wouldn't confuse him, but then again, he may know and just doesn't quite get what I'm talking about."

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Virgil muttered trying to play it cool, but Danny's gaze never stopped.

"You do know, and so does he," Danny indicted walking back to the chair they had him sitting in. "It's interesting, I wouldn't have been able to tell of wasn't for…well let's leave it at that."

"Dude, are you okay?" Virgil asked raising an eyebrow at their guest. Danny turned around.

"Are you, Static?" Danny asked getting Virgil to step back. Robert glared at the boy. "I know that business you're in well enough to know a hero when I see one. Wasn't expecting to run into your human part though, it's bad enough running into all the weirdoes around here."

"So you have powers too," Virgil shot glaring at the kid. Danny smiled.

"Maybe, but mine didn't come from deadly gases," he explained walking towards him.

"What will it take to keep you quiet?" Virgil asked watching Danny walk around the room surveying everything. Danny stopped. Virgil knew that he was now in debt to some random kid who now knew about his superhero career.

"Didn't I just say I wasn't prepared to run into you like this," Danny informed turning around. "I haven't exactly been here all that long, and I figured it out. One thing though, you should try to keep your powers level when you're not Static." Virgil looked at him confused. "You need to learn how to focus your powers so your emotions can't control them when you get annoyed."

"What are you talking about?" he asked angry that the kid figured out who he was so quickly. If he could, what is to stop the rest from figuring it out as well.

"Your powers are stronger than most of the ones I run into, but I can still feel them coming off you. You were upset that I wasn't talking about my problems, and that activated your powers. I do the same thing, only with different results," Danny explained facing them. "Like I said, I know the hero business well enough to know these things."

"So you were a hero before you took off," Robert insisted watching the teen turn away from them. He could tell that the teen was new to talking to complete strangers about this sort of thing, but he knew who his son was, and that couldn't end well. He could ask for anything, and they would have to do something about it, but something was telling him that Danny only wanted help. Danny also seemed broken and like someone needed to save as well, and if his son couldn't save him, then he had no idea who could.

"Hero wouldn't exactly be the word used," Danny mumbled looking out the window to the snow on the ground. Flakes had started dancing and twirling across the sky creating a peaceful like scene. "They used other words."

"Like what?" Virgil asked curious to know what he had done. He sounded like he was hurting inside but was trying to hide the pain behind a mask. He turned around and faced them, and his face showed little of the pain and hurt he felt.

"Ones that blur the line between hero and villain," Danny explained looking back out the window. "It's hard to be a hero to the people who wish you were destroyed."

"Is that why you left?" Robert asked wondering if maybe that was part of it. If so, he was right about it not being normal, but maybe they could still help the kid. "Because they didn't accept you as a hero?"

"Part of it," Danny murmured looking back at them and fully turning around. "The rest is a lot harder to get."

"So what happened?" Virgil questioned looking at Danny. He knew that he should ask what hero he was, but he wanted the story. He wanted to try and figure it out himself from the story since Danny figured him out so quickly. Danny looked at him.

"How do I know that you won't turn me over to the closest research lab after I tell you?" Danny shot glaring at them. Robert stood up.

"You know who my son is," he defended. "What's to stop you from telling everyone who he is?"

"My morals," Danny answered. "I will never go back on them. I would never hurt anyone." Robert stared at him in disbelief while Virgil's mouth was hanging open. "What?"

"How about we make a deal?" Virgil offered suddenly. "You tell us the problem, and if we tell anyone that shouldn't know, you can tell anyone about me. Deal?"

"Why?" Danny asked amazed he would use his secret like that. "Why bother?"

"You need a place to stay, and maybe if you tell us is wrong, you can stay with us," Virgil insisted looking at his pops. "If you are a fellow hero, then it shouldn't be a problem."

"A world needs a balance to prevent it from collapsing in on itself," Danny started fully facing them so they could see his hands which were holding a light green ball. "That balance is the go between of this world and the Ghost Zone."

"Ghosts aren't real," Virgil sighed feeling like this was a complete waste of his time. Now some nut knew who he was.

"Then the balance wouldn't exist," Danny smiled letting the ball dissipate. "And either would I," he whispered as a bright white ring appear around his middle and then split leaving Phantom in his place with his cloak fluttering silently behind him. His hood was down and his white hair glowed in the lights while his eyes gave off the feeling of being protected in a neon green shine. "Whoever said ghosts had to be dead was wrong."

"You're a ghost?" Robert asked wondering if the kid just wasn't a bang baby who thought he was.

"Half ghost," he corrected smiling and floating off the ground a little. "I'm sure you heard of Danny Phantom."

"Dude, I thought that was just a thing for that city to get some money," Virgil claimed looking at his dad. "He's the apparent ghostly protector of Amity Park." Danny laughed.

"Most think that while others believe me to be nothing but evil," he explained changing back into his human form unwillingly. "Unfortunately, I've been on the run for too long and can't maintain my form very well," he whispered looking at his thin hands. "It's been a while since I was actually Phantom."

"Hey," Virgil smiled. "That's an easy fix. Pops, what do you think?" Robert just stared at Danny for a few moments before breaking into a small smile.

"I believe that can be done," Robert agreed looking at Danny who smiled. "All we need to do is finish cleaning up the mess from the dinner."

"I can help," he offered. Virgil put his arm around Danny's neck, but he didn't last long around him as Danny had jumped backward kicking Virgil away and lighting up his hand in ecto energy. It quickly died.

"I'm sorry," he whispered standing straight from his defensive crouch with a slight shake.

"It's okay," Virgil muttered putting his hands up. "I guess I should have taken into consideration that you might not like it when people touch you." Danny smiled.

"Not so much that, but I've been gone for so long, that simple friendly gestures seem threatening, and sometimes they are," Danny whispered nervously rubbing his wrist. "I shouldn't be like that, but I can get out of it. I've just had a couple bad moments." Virgil smiled and walked over to him.

"So you feel threatened when people touch you," Virgil mused walking around Danny. He tensed when he couldn't see him. "Pops, this is fun."

"Virgil, leave the kid alone," Robert smiled as his son stopped in Danny's blind spot. Danny quickly turned so he could see both of them. They both laughed at the teen. Danny smiled.

"I have to call Richie," Virgil exclaimed. "He'll want to know about this as well."

"He's Gear then," Danny mused. Both Robert and Virgil looked at him. "What? I figured that Virgil would be smart enough not to tell his friend about it, but if he was Gear, then he wouldn't have a problem telling him about me since I would have figured it out anyway."

"I'm just gonna say this," Virgil grinned. "You're weird."

"Isn't everyone?" Danny asked smiling lightly. It had been a while since he was able to joke and feel genuinely happy, but he was hoping that he could fall back into that rhythm of being with people. Especially after what had happened.

"Here's our house," Virgil smiled as they walked in the front door. Sharon walked in with a bowl of something.

"Finally, Virgil," she growled glaring at her little brother. "I need you to….who is this?"

"Sharon, this is Danny," Virgil introduced really hoping that his sister didn't try to tear apart the hybrid. "Danny, this is my annoying sister Sharon."

"Hello, Danny," she smiled. "I'm just getting dinner ready. I didn't know Virgil had more than one friend."

"Well, he's having some issues at home, and Pops said he could stay here till things calmed down," Virgil informed lying smoothly and Danny was slightly impressed. He was better at it than he had been. He just let them figure things out before doing anything.

"Well, that means I have to make more than I did," she muttered turning back around and heading into the kitchen.

"She's usually a pain," Virgil whispered making Danny smile. "Come on, I'll show you the bathroom and you can take a shower. I have some clothes that are too small for me, but they should fit you."

"Thanks," Danny whispered as they headed upstairs. Virgil walked into his room with Danny entering just in the door. Virgil handed him a shirt and pants.

"Everything should work, but the hot water takes a while to kick in since Sharon probably used it downstairs. Towels are in the cupboard, and the soap is already in there," Virgil explained as they headed out and he opened the door. Danny peaked inside and seen the light colored walls. The shower was white, and it sent a shudder though his body. He was just glad that the walls weren't white too.

"Thanks, Virgil," Danny smiled softly walking in and closing the door.

"You're welcome, Danny," Virgil smiled glad to have helped a young kid.

Danny looked in the mirror and took a small step forward. The kid that looked back at him was a complete stranger. The deep blue eyes looked almost dead. His skin was much paler and sunken in. He wondered how no one really said anything about it, but then again, no one here really knew what he looked like.

He looked around his neck and noted the small scars the race across his skin. He took a deep breath before slipping his shirt off. He looked at the ceiling before getting the courage to look back at the mirror. The scars covering his chest mirrored back at him, and the pain came back. He kneeled down and tried to calm himself down. Memories quickly flashed beneath his eyelids as the pain finally died. He slowly stood back up and traced the biggest scar on his chest.

It was long and started at his left shoulder and stretched across his chest before cutting back across his stomach. It ended at his left hip but the scar wrapped completely around his body. It happened right before he was captured. Skulker was in town at the time, and Vlad was up to his normal fruitloopy ways.

"I really need a plan," Danny whispered knowing he would have to do something in order to grantee protection for Amity and the Ghost Zone. He slowly got ready to go into the shower trying to keep the pain that was hidden in his scars. He let the warm water rush over his body as he felt the dirt and grime come off. It was beginning to feel so much better.

* * *

"So, how long have you and Danny been friends, and when did you have a friend other then Richie?" Sharon asked as Virgil entered the kitchen.

"Why do you have to think that I don't have any other friends than Richie?" Virgil asked glaring at her. "That's kind of mean."

"Well, it's true. I've never really seen you hang out with anyone besides him," Sharon stated. "What kind of home troubles was he having?"

"Why do you have to be so nosy? That's private for him anyway," Virgil smarted while grabbing some snacks from the cupboard.

"He looked like he was abused," Sharon stated with a worried frown. "Virgil, if he is being abused then we need to tell the authorities."

"Sharon, he just needs a place to crash," Virgil put in. "Don't ask questions."

"Well, I'm going to be asking them to Dad, and I will get the answers I need," Sharon informed putting her nose in the air and walking out. She heard Virgil do something else in the kitchen, and she quietly and quickly made her way upstairs when she heard the water turn off. She waited for a few moments and then knocked on the door. A quiet 'yes' came from inside, and Sharon wondered if he wasn't beaten for just taking a shower.

"Hey, just checking to see if you were okay," she informed hoping that he wouldn't mind.

"I'm fine," he whispered as he put the pants on he got from Virgil. She heard him pull something on, and gently jiggled the key in the lock. The door opened and she stood horrified at the sight before. The only thing she could do was scream.

Virgil heard her from the kitchen and ran upstairs to see what the problem was when he seen Danny standing there without a shirt. His scars glowing angrily under the light. He took a step back and Virgil pushed Sharon out of the way before locking the door behind him so he was with Danny. Danny slipped his shirt on quickly and leaned against the wall.

"You didn't tell us about the scars," Virgil whispered looking at Danny sadly. Danny shook his head.

"Don't start," he whispered shakily. "They hurt enough."

"You were in a lab, weren't you?" Virgil asked wanting to know if his new friends had been experimented on or not. Danny nodded his head, but kept his gaze to the floor. "That's why you didn't want to tell us at first when you figured out who I was."

"Stop," Danny whispered pushing his back into the wall. "Don't; I don't want to talk about, much let relive any of it. I already had it when I looked at them, and please don't bring it up again."

"I have to tell my pops," Virgil informed watching the teen warily.

"I don't want to be there," Danny whispered. "I'm not talking about it. There is no way I'm…"

"It's okay; I just know he'll want to know about this," Virgil whispered. "You can't keep things bottled up though, Danny. It'll hurt more in the long run."

"It hasn't been that long yet," Danny whispered looking at Virgil. "Can we drop this now?"

"I guess," Virgil muttered opening the door back. "I have to give my sister something. She wants to call the cops on your not real parents here."

"We can't get them involved," Danny panicked looking wild eyed. Virgil put his hands up.

"This didn't help, but we have to tell her something," Virgil whispered. Danny shuddered.

"Telling her I'm some kid from the streets would probably be a bad idea then?" Danny whispered trying to lighten the mood. He really needed to get his mind out of his past.

"Yeah, probably," Virgil agreed with a small smile. "I really don't know what to tell her though."

"The truth is so outlandish that it won't even work," Danny muttered looking at Virgil. "She doesn't know your secret, does she?"

"No," Virgil uttered. "Pops wanted me to tell her, but she was going off, and he decided that maybe a later time would do."

"We could tell her that it's too dangerous," Danny muttered. "If the cops get involved, it is. They have that kind of reach, and I really want to try to stay as low as possible right now."

"Give off that they might be a police officer," Virgil thought hoping that Danny would come up with something better. "Show that maybe keeping it quiet would be better."

"Yeah, or something although those lines," Danny whispered as he straightened himself out.

* * *

"Virg," Richie questioned as they headed to the gas station. "Are you sure about this?" He had no idea that Danny already knew who they were. Virgil wanted to see how long it took for him to realize this little fact.

"Yeah," Virgil smiled as Danny followed. He wasn't all that comfortable with them beside him. He felt better just tagging along and see who they really were. "I don't think he'll learn much that he doesn't already know."

"Nothing I don't already know," Danny agreed smiling at Richie who was glaring at his friend.

"What about the you-know-what?" he asked putting his hand up to avoid Danny hearing it, which didn't really do anything since he heard it anyway.

"What about the you-know-what?" Danny asked with a slight smile. They had a bet on how long it would take Richie to figure it out. Virgil glared at him. Richie looked confused.

"Well, we're here," Virgil exclaimed as they walked up to the station. Danny smiled and then frowned and stopped. The two turned around at not hearing his footsteps behind them.

"Danny?" Virgil asked concerned. He knew who he was, but if Danny felt threatened, then something was going to go down. "Man, are you okay?"

"Something isn't right," Danny whispered looking around at the alleys and down roads. "There's something waiting for us."

"What is it?" Virgil asked now on alert. Richie noticed the tension and began looking around as well. Danny stopped and closed his eyes waiting. Virgil looked at him confused. "Danny, are you there?"

"There's something in there," Danny muttered focusing on the station. "It sounds like metal scrapping against metal."

"I don't hear anything," Richie exclaimed looking at Danny like he was insane. He was also afraid that maybe backpack was in there waiting for them. That would be bad. Danny opened his eyes to reveal glowing green and then they changed back to blue.

"I know what it is now," Danny grinned. "I'm good."

"What is it?" Virgil asked confused as Richie opened the door and Backpack jumped on him.

"That, it makes a weird sound, and I wasn't sure what it was," Danny explained smiling slightly. Richie turned and glared at him narrowing his eyes.

"What do you really know?" Richie questioned getting into Danny's face. Virgil grabbed Richie's arm and pulled him back.

"Hey, chill, it's okay," Virgil smiled slightly. "He's not a threat."

"What does he know?" Richie asked annoyed at Virgil's careless attitude.

"Man, what is your problem today?" Virgil asked throwing his arm over Richie's shoulder. Danny started looking around at the place making sure that there wasn't anything else there that might cause a threat.

"What's wrong with you? If he knows," Richie glared at Virgil upset that they might be found out by some kid.

"And if he does, so?" Virgil asked looking at Danny who was watching the exchange with interest. Richie glared at the kid.

"You think it's a game. Virgil, he could rat us out," Richie growled glaring at his partner.

"Conformation?" Danny asked looking at Virgil.

"Let's eat," Virgil exclaimed getting into the panty where they had kept snacks. Danny smiled as he was passed twice as much then Richie, who continued to glare at the hybrid.

"What gives?" Richie demanded upset at being put in the dark. Virgil grinned as he sat down causing a ton of dust to come up.

"He's been on the run for a while, so me and Pops decided to help him out," Virgil shrugged and started eating his snack.

"So you help some random kid that knows who we are?" Richie exclaimed knowing that it was dangerous. Danny smiled sadly as he ate the little treat.

"I might be random, but I'm not just some kid," he whispered lighting his hand up with ecto energy.

"You're a bang baby, even better," Richie shot standing over Danny. "What do you really want?"

"I really want to be able to go home without everyone wanting to kill me," Danny growled glaring at him. Virgil got up and between the two teens.

"Hey, we don't need fighting right now," Virgil interrupted not wanting his new house guest and his best friend/partner to get into a serious fight. "Let's just chill before we go on patrol. Danny'll be joining us this time though."

"Why? He wants to try to be the hero now? Why not when he first got his powers," Richie asked sarcastically. Danny put down his small snack and stood straight and let the white rings pass over him.

"I was a hero before that gas was ever released. Watch who you go after," Phantom's voice echoed though the room causing both Virgil and Richie to shiver. The room grew colder and the lights flickered as Phantom's powers slowly became more demanding and in control. "Because sometimes a hero is hated by the same people that they protect."

"You had to do something to make them hate you then," Richie glared slowly backing away from the hybrid.

"No I didn't," Phantom explained letting his hood down to reveal his neon eyes. "I'm a protector, I make sure that everyone is safe and will try to make sure that no one is hurt, even the ones I'm fighting. I may have started trying to be a hero, but people believed that all ghosts were evil. I was never truly given the chance to be seen as a hero. People in the high school believed me as one, but even then there were people who didn't believe me. They all believed what others said about ghosts without giving me a chance to show them. Plus some of my fights, they didn't help matters because of how much information would had to have been known in order to understand." Richie looked back at Virgil.

"How'd he figure out who we were then?" Richie asked as Phantom changed back into Danny.

"Powers are something that works with your emotions, and the way your body works," Danny explained sitting down silently as a light dust came up. "I can feel the powers of the bang babies here before they can even show their faces."

"So, do you think you can stand a patrol?" Virgil asked knowing Danny was still a little weak from running. Danny smiled.

"I'm good as long as I stay eating the way I have been," he informed them as Richie decided to sit down.

"Dude, you were like everything a year ago," Richie exclaimed slightly happy that they had found another hero that wasn't in the league. It showed that there were more good people in the world. "Then you started stealing. What happened?" Danny got a haunted look pass over his face.

"I was being controlled by Freakshow. He had led a circus and used this crystal ball to control ghosts, and sadly, not only do I have a ghost's strength, but their weakness as well. Since where I lived, everyone thought that ghosts were evil, no matter what the evidence said. I was hunted, and no matter what I did, no one would believe I was the hero. Especially when three of four ecto labs in Amity blew up. They blamed them on me, and only one was really my fault," Danny whispered the last bit quietly.

"Why'd you blow it up then?" Richie asked glaring at him again. Danny looked up at him with a sad smile.

"That's how I escaped Amity, and that lab. There was no way I could stay, and the things that they had done to me…" Danny began only to stop as tears slowly streamed down his face. He pulled his legs up to his body and wrapped his arms around them . Richie suddenly realized that not only was there people who wanted him dead, but there were people who wanted to use him as a lab rat. Virgil looked at the young hero.

"They experimented on you, didn't they? That's why you ran," he asked knowing the answered already. He wasn't just bringing in a super-powered teen into his home. He was helping someone who had everything stripped from him, and nothing to show for it. Danny nodded as he hugged his legs even closer.

"I know that if they find me here, they might think that I'm just a bang baby that was here and moved to Amity, but I highly doubt that they will. You guys really only got one power, or a few based on one thing. I have several powers that can be based on many different things," Danny explained looking up at them. "I'm not wanted for any crimes that were blamed on me; I'm wanted because they want me as their lab rat in order to find a way to destroy the Ghost Zone."

"That's why you escaped. To protect the Ghost Zone," Richie stated watching the younger teen who seemed to have closed off from them.

"One of many reasons," Danny whispered as Virgil got up.

"Well, we need to start our patrol, and if you think you can handle it, then you can tag along," Virgil informed holding his hand out to help Danny up.

"I think that would be awesome. I haven't really been able to use my powers freely, but since you offered," Danny smiled as he stood up. Richie gave a sign.

"I'll make sure he doesn't fall out of the sky," he grinned as he got out his uniform. "Still, its cool to hang out with a ghost."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Danny smiled as he changed back into Phantom. The rush of energy hit him and he felt like he could go for years without changing back, but he knew it would only last for so long. Gear grinned at him as he put his mask over his face. Static walked in and expanded his disk.

"Let's go, we'll stay together so that way we don't lose you," Static stated as they headed up in the air. Phantom flew higher than them and smiled at the wind on his face. It was first time in a long time when he had his hood down and blowing around in the breeze. Phantom flipped on his back and lowered himself to Static's and Gear's level.

"One of the best parts of having powers is being able to feel the freedom of flight," Phantom whispered looking at them. Static smiled at the happy look his new friend held. The kid may have only been with them for a little bit, but he deserved being able to feel this happy.

"I would say for you maybe," Gear grinned making sure that his boots wouldn't act up again or any wind seers came. He hated those things.

"Come on, guys, we are supposed to be looking for crime, not waiting for someone to fall out of the sky," Static stated watching Phantom closely. He didn't want his new friend falling out of the sky any time soon, but he seemed pretty relaxed.

"Well, I've been getting readings from Phantom the entire time," Gear stated reading the fast paced information going though his helmet.

"What?" Phantom muttered flipping back over and watching Gear with worry.

"It's interesting," Gear uttered as he tried to see if he could figure out what normal was for the ghost.

"What's interesting?" Phantom asked as panic flooded his mind. Static glared at his friend.

"Hey, Gear, we're not seeing what you are, and you freaking Phantom out," Static informed hoping that Phantom didn't try to run.

"Sorry, but I can get his energy levels. They read like a bang baby, only every time he changes directions or flips himself around they change," Gear stated looking back at the hybrid. "I would have to do more, but I bet I could tell you if Phantom is about to lose his powers or if he is able to use the rest."

"So you could give him warning before he changes," Static muttered knowing that would be useful if they do find trouble. He hoped not, but they still had to patrol. If they did run into something, Phantom didn't have to fight or do anything.

"I could tell you that," Phantom muttered looking down at the city. He flew a little higher hoping that they wouldn't notice him. "How is it that Amity's citizen's never looked up when I went by, why do they have to?"

"You afraid of people?" Gear joked.

"Yes," Phantom muttered as Static closed the gap left by Phantom so the ghost was directly above him.

"Oh," Gear muttered feeling bad now. The paparazzi would definitely have a field day with them just like they did when She-Bang joined in. "Well, I guess we should probably keep Phantom from getting into the media."

"That would be preferable," Phantom whispered wanting to disappear. Static looked up at him with a little bit of worry.

"They'll probably try to get us to answer questions," Static informed watching the ghost carefully.

"Don't answer them," Phantom stated showing a little bit more of an unstable flight.

"Phantom, I think your powers are reacting to your emotions. The more you panic to more unstable you become," Gear stated looking at the hybrid. "You were stable when you were talking about how flying was your favorite thing, and then you started declining."

"Okay then, let's talk about flying," Static smiled looking at the ghost as well. Phantom flipped upside down and tried to calm himself down. The duo watched as the hybrid floated above them. They stopped and Phantom flipped back around to face them.

"And he's stable again," Gear grinned looking at their new friend. "Great, and BackPack just got an alert from a bank robbery downtown."

"Let's go," Static smiled as they headed towards the robbery. "Phantom, you don't have to fight if you feel like that would hurt your recovery."

"If you could call it that," Gear muttered looking back at the ghost. "I can't tell you if his levels are normal or not. They could be where they need to be right now."

"They're not," Phantom responded. "I would be able to feel more than what I am now."

"So they're lower than they should be," Gear stated making a quick file in his database to help keep track of the ghost's levels. They came up to a strange scene with cops surrounding the building. Phantom followed them until he came too close to an officer.

"I'm just gonna hang back," he whispered turning invisible. Gear's levels spiked slightly.

"Alright," Static smiled as he descended to see what they were dealing with. he landed in front of an officer and jumped off his disk and closed it. "What do we have?"

"Not sure," he shrugged. "We got here and this was done, but nothing was taken."

"That's weird," Gear muttered looking at the scene. Static looked at him waiting for an explanation, but none came.

"What's weird?" Static finally sighed getting tired. Gear shook his head and glanced back at where they left Phantom.

"Are you sure that nothing was stolen?" he asked looking inside. The officer nodded.

"Nothing that we can tell," he informed. Gear nodded and pulled Static to the side.

"I'm getting the some readings here as I was with Phantom. The only difference is the stable part. Phantom's levels are unstable and don't leave traces because of it. Whoever did this had stable levels and has similar patterns," Gear informed making sure no one over heard them.

"Phantom was with us," Static stated hoping his friend didn't think that the hybrid did this.

"I know. He didn't do because they are similar, but the differences are too dramatic for me not to take into consideration. I was thinking that, but Phantom's levels are still everywhere. This was consistent," Gear informed knowing his friend didn't want their new friend to be a bad guy. Static looked around and they slowly walked in to get a better look.

"Phantom might be able to tell us more then," Static muttered. "We need him here. I want him to see this."

"He's still outside," Gear informed.

"He won't come in here with those cops surrounding the place. It'll make him freak out, and I really don't want to see that," Static stated. "I don't know how he would freak out."

"Good point. We could always wait until later. After the police go though, we can come back and drag him with us," Gear suggested. Static nodded.

"We'll do that," he stated as they headed out. The officer looked up waiting for their options.

"I have a friend I would like to ask to see this later. He's not much to go into the public eye, but Gear thinks he might know more about what happened," Static informed. "We'll come back with him, but he doesn't like cops."

"Smooth one," Gear muttered.

"Why doesn't he like cops?" the officer asked suspicious about the reason.

"It's not just cops," Gear continued glaring at his friend. "It's people, guns, people, crowds, people…"

"I think he gets it, Gear," Static uttered glaring back. The officer looked between them wondering exactly what was going on.

"So it's the crowd of officers that will make him nervous," he stated trying to gather what they were saying. "What about the couple that stay here to guard the building?"

"Just don't attack him, freak him out, make him panic…" Gear started only for Static to slap the back of his head.

"I think that as long as they don't touch or talk to him, he'll be fine," Static informed glaring at Gear. "He's just shy."

"Alright, so you'll be here later?" the officer confirmed as Static expanded his disk once more.

"Yep," he smiled jumping on it and flying off.

* * *

**Danny: Well...that was annoying...**

**Me: I had to fix it in here because it couldn't just let me copy and paste...no...it had to be a bitch...**

**Danny: she's pissed...**

**Me: If this moves fast, it's because I wrote the first part about a year ago...before I got this weird thing that suddenly made my writing better...I edited it, but didn't want to rewrite it because I'm lazy...**

**Danny: She's not really doing anything now...snowed in...**

**Me: I HATE COLD WEATHER!**

**Danny: she's curled up in a jacket...its was funny because last night she was flipping out...**

**Me: If you didn't know me, you would think I was high...I wasn't, but if I ever had to pretend to be, last night would be the perfect thing...it was insane...XD**

**Danny: review, and hope that the evil unicorn following her doesn't kill her...**


	3. The Robbery

Ice Lightening

Chapter Two

The Robbery

_"We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves."_

_~Malcolm X~_

* * *

"No," Phantom shook his head as Static and Gear talked about the robbery. "I'm not getting involved."

"You might know something that the cops or anyone else might not," Gear stated wanting to convince his friend to help them. Static watched Danny carefully hoping this didn't have to do with his scars or the lab. His fear of people would be explained by what he learned earlier, but he hoped that Phantom would be able to help them figure it what happened.

"No, I'm not going in there," Phantom muttered backing away from them. Static looked up at the sky. They landed on a building for a rest and to have time to ask Phantom about what Gear was reading.

"Come on, you never investigated a robbery?" Gear questioned throwing his hands in the air. "You're a legend, and you can't help us figure this one thing out?"

"I never investigated. I defended. I wasn't the one on the side lines trying to figure things out. I was the fighter," Phantom growled. "When a ghost showed up, I fought them and protected Amity. Simple as that."

"You never got involve with human affairs then?" Static questioned wondering if Phantom wasn't just obsessed with fighting. He read that ghosts had obsessions, but he didn't know if Phantom would since he was also human.

"Fires or accidents," Phantom muttered. "I would help get people out of danger, but I never dealt with anything else."

"You had to have enemies that you know were planning something then," Gear countered not wanting to let him stay on the sidelines. "You had to do something at one time or another to figure out what they were doing."

"Stop it," Phantom whispered putting his hands on his ears to try to block out Gear. "Stop, please, I…I can't…"

"Phantom," Static whispered gently placing his hand on the hybrid's thin shoulder. Phantom tensed. "We thought that maybe this person could have ties to the Ghost World or might even be a ghost, and we don't have experience in that. However, you do, and we could really use your help."

"I can't," Phantom whispered looking at the ground and letting his arms fall to his side. His cloak wrapped around his shoulders and hid his body from view.

"Can you at least help us look for something that might be out of place? The police said that they didn't see anything taken, but maybe you could at least help us figure it out," Static suggested wanting to help make Phantom part of the team. "You won't hurt anything, and they already know we'll be coming back later anyway."

"Okay," Phantom whispered turning around and walking away to the side and looked down the side. Gear looked at his best friend.

"Wow," he muttered. "You're really good at that."

"Pops told me that Danny wasn't just a kid, but someone who was hurt over and over again. He still wants to protect, but he's afraid of being hurt. Pushing him to do something won't help. I figured asking him for help would get to him," Static explained watching the young teen. "We just have to be careful."

* * *

"Daddy?" Sharon called walking down the stairs after hearing the front door open and close. Instead, Danny stood there looking nervous.

"Sorry, Virgil wanted me to get something," he whispered slipping by her and heading into the kitchen. Sharon could only see his scarred and mutilated chest. Flashes of it when though her head, and she had to take a quick breath.

"Virgil said that you didn't tell him about the scars," she stated following him into the kitchen. She heard the door and close again, but she wanted to know more about their new house guest. Danny just looked down as he got what he was told.

"Sharon, I'm home," Robert called out walking into the kitchen and putting his things on the table. "Oh, Danny, I didn't know you were here. I thought you would be with Virgil."

"He asked me to do something," Danny whispered watching Sharon carefully. Robert noted the tension.

"Sharon, is something wrong?" the father asked seeing that she was looking at Danny with horror and concern.

"What did Virgil tell you about Danny?" Sharon stated pointing at the young hybrid. Danny tensed and held on to the small box Virgil had him get. It had a few snacks in it, and the hero had forgotten to get it earlier when they left. Danny wanted to just get out of there before Sharon asked anymore questions, and Virgil understood.

"I know enough to know that Danny is a good kid," Robert smiled at the young teen, but he noticed that the teen wasn't responding. he was hiding something, and Robert had a bad feeling pick at the back of his mind.

"Did he tell you about the scars?" Sharon stated raising her hands over her head. "Something's going on, and either of them will tell me!"

"Sharon, breath," Robert whispered pulling her hands down and holding them close. "I'll talk to them, but you have to stay calm about it. If he doesn't what you to know, then he has that right."

"He's in our house," Sharon hissed quietly hoping that Danny didn't hear her, but he still did. He felt guilt start to eat at him.

"Sharon, go to your room," Robert ordered noticing that Danny was uncomfortable. He knew his powers probably let him hear what Sharon said, but he really didn't want Danny to feel like he would be in the way. He loved his daughter, but sometimes she got too nosy. Sharon huffed and stomped away leaving Danny and Robert in the kitchen. "I'm guessing that most of those scars she is talking about are from fighting ghosts."

"Some of them," Danny whispered closing his eyes. "I really don't want to talk about it. Not now."

"What have you told Virgil?" Robert asked.

"Can you ask him? I don't want to talk about it, ever," Danny whispered pulling away from the man. "I'm sorry, but please…I can't."

"Danny, letting people in, and telling them what happened can help heal your wounds," Robert whispered gently placing his hand on Danny's thin shoulder. Danny's muscles coiled and Robert felt the muscles constrict and prepare for anything.

"Not this," Danny whispered holding the small lunch tighter. His knuckles turned white. Robert gently placed his other hand on the young hybrid's before turning him so that they were face to face.

"Sometimes you need to let someone know in order to get closure," Robert muttered. "You don't have to say anything now, but when you feel like you need to talk, I'm always going to be there. So will Virgil."

"I don't know if I ever will," Danny whispered. "Please, its hurts to…" Danny's knees gave out and he leaned against the cupboards. Robert kneeled in front of him watching to make sure that the teenager was okay. "Please, don't."

"It's okay, Danny. No one here will hurt you, and you are welcomed here no matter what," Robert assured gently putting the young hybrid into a hug. Danny's muscles tightened and Robert gently rubbed his back hoping to calm the teen down. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Mr. Hawkins," Danny whispered pushing against him. "I just want to take this to Virgil right now. I…I…"

"Be careful," Robert whispered giving Danny the lunchbox he had dropped. He also handed the teen his cell phone. "I want you to use this. I'll get you one tomorrow so that we can keep track of you, and if you need anything."

"Thanks," Danny whispered giving him a small smile. Robert nodded. He didn't usually trust kids with something like that, but Danny desperately needed their help, and this was one thing he knew would show that the teenager was welcome without freaking him out. He needed help, and Robert had done some research on the ghost knew as Danny Phantom. He had risked everything to save the town at one point, even if they all hated him.

* * *

"Virgil, why did you send Danny out by himself if you think he's going to run the first moment he gets?" Richie asked as they waited for Danny to return to headquarters.

"If he does run, it'll be after he gets a good night rest at our house, but we need to figure what really happened back in Amity Park," Virgil stressed telling Richie to look out things that had recently happened in Amity. "We know that his name is Danny Phantom, but we don't have his real name yet, we have his secret identity name even though we know what he looks like."

"Where do you want me to look first?" Richie asked as he started hacking into the police database in Amity Park.

"Missing kids first, if I'm right, he probably lived with a loving family. Otherwise he would be a criminal," Virgil mused as they started there.

"There's a lot," Richie whispered surprised at the number of missing kids in Amity. "I've never seen this many."

"I think that whoever may have taken Danny may have also put these people in danger," Virgil stated. "Danny's running from someone, and we need to figure out what happened and who is responsible."

"We still have to figure out what happened at the bank. The officers said that there was no money missing and none of the security boxes were broken into. They did a quick check and are looking into making sure that everything was there," Richie stated as they looked though the pictures of the missing persons. Virgil stopped him.

"Look, Danny Fenton," he stated. "That looks like our Danny."

"He looks like any other kid on here," Richie pointed out. "I mean, if we didn't already know what he looked like, we never would have been able, but he still doesn't look the same. Our Danny is much thinner, and… his parents are ghost hunters."

"That's probably how he got his powers. He might have played in their lab one day and got in trouble," Virgil stated straightening himself out and crossing his arms.

"But they hunt Phantom," Richie stated as he looked more up on the couple. "Plus, why would Danny give us his real name…"

"Danny is a popular name, and the people hunting him might not look for any nameless Danny's if they believe he would do anything and everything to hide," Virgil suggested. "Plus, his parents might not know about him. We never told ours. My Pops found out, but that was because of a villain who figured it out."

"Okay, well, it says here that he disappeared halfway through the school day. Lancer let him go to the bathroom, and that was the last time anyone seen him," Richie stated reading from the paper.

"Look up when the last time anyone seen Phantom. That'll give us more about the exact time he disappeared," Virgil informed as they searched for the last time anyone seen the ghost. The webpage that popped up next told them everything.

"He was caught," Richie whispered looking at Virgil. Virgil punched the wall next to them.

"There's no telling what they did to him," he growled. "It's not here where they try to help the bang babies; they wanted to destroy him."

"Virgil, their lab exploded four weeks ago," Richie stated. "They labeled the ghost as dead to the media, and the trail stops. Danny's might not know that they considered the ghost destroyed."

"They're probably still looking. There have to be people who believe that he is still alive," Virgil stated. "With as much as they said that the ghost was powerful, and that he needed to be stopped before he started turning against them, there's no way."

"I think they didn't want people to panic," Richie started as he read another article. "But they caused something worse to happened. The teens and kids in the town along with the people who believed that the ghost was a true hero hung one of the agents that were responsible for catching Phantom. Anyone who was close to being considered a threat to Phantom was hunted down."

"The people he protected started rebelling. They wanted to avenge their hero," Virgil whispered.

"Fourteen teens died in a ghost attack after Phantom was caught. It was a ghost called the Box Ghost. Apparently Phantom never deemed him much of a threat, and it would take him less than five minutes to take him down," Richie informed looking at Virgil. "It was after the parents of Danny listed him as missing."

"The ghost probably knew who he was," Virgil whispered. "His parents were ghost hunters and probably wouldn't use them against him since they didn't know about him, and then they could protect themselves."

"It says here that one of Phantom's hunters finally took him down. She stayed a while to explain a few things, and said that if she could, she would have helped Phantom out. She only hunted the ghost to annoy him. Some don't believe her, but now she goes around hunting ghosts with Phantom's emblem on her hover board as a memory," Richie went on. "I don't think she wants Phantom's job, but instead wants him back."

"He did a heck of a job if they want him back," Virgil muttered. "Too bad he doesn't know that."

"He told you that they hated him?" Richie asked knowing that many people were very outspoken about hating him.

"What about his parents? Why didn't they go and help?" Virgil asked wondering if they were ghost hunters why they didn't help when the Box Ghost was out there.

"They weren't in Amity at the time. They were with a friend in Wisconsin," Richie explained. "They moved to Wisconsin after the attack and shut down their portal. Ghosts still show up every day, but the Red Huntress takes care of them."

"Who caught Danny then?" Virgil asked.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to," a voice growled out as the computer Richie was on shut down. Danny walked into the room, his eyes an angry green. Virgil put his hands up.

"We were just trying to help," he defended wishing that they paid better attention to him entering.

"I don't want you digging into my past," Danny growled glaring at the two.

"We're sorry," Virgil stated in an honest voice. "But we were worried, and we just wanted to look up what you did as Phantom. We came…"

"You're lying. You were trying to find out my real name," Danny shot lighting his hand up with ecto energy. It quickly disappeared, and he dropped to his knees. "Damn it," he whispered as he felt his powers slip away from his control. Virgil walked up to him and kneeled down and gently put his hand on the hybrid's back hoping to be comforting. He just got a glare in return.

"Are you okay?" the young hero asked.

"I'm…I'm fine," Danny sighed. "But I don't want you digging around in my past without me knowing. I don't want someone to figure it out."

"I made sure that no one can trace my connection," Richie promised. "Next time we'll ask your permission. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Danny mumbled as he slowly stood back up. Virgil hovered making sure that he wasn't going to collapse again.

"Great, so you still going to go and look at the bank and help us?" Virgil asked making Danny glare at him again.

"When?" Danny sighed as Virgil smiled. Virgil handed him a sandwich from the box he had gotten from home.

"After we eat, and then we will go," Virgil stated knowing that getting Danny to eat something would help him stay in his ghost form so no one would figure it out. Danny gingerly picked up the sandwich and carefully ate while Virgil and Richie joked around about some video game that was coming out.

* * *

"Alright, I found this really low level of energy that was similar to yours," Gear stated as they walked into the closed off bank. Phantom hesitantly followed them in and jumped at every little movement that was made.

"That could be any number of ghosts, and quite possibly could even be a bang baby who has similar powers to a ghost," Phantom informed looking. "I ran into one when I first got here. It had similar powers to what I can do, but then the energy was different."

"I'm not sure if the police found anything or not," Static stated looking outside to the cruiser that was watching the place just in case the robbers came back.

Phantom looked around feeling like he was just in the way of them really doing their jobs. Gear watched him carefully knowing he probably couldn't really help them now. The signature he had gotten before was now gone since they waited so long before getting back.

"I don't know," Phantom whispered looking around until a small bug like thing in the corner caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes before realizing that it was one of Plasmius's bugs that were all over his home. He disappeared causing both Gear and Static to call for him.

"Phantom? Come on, don't run," Static muttered looking around until a green spark caught his attention and Phantom reappeared and handed Gear something.

"Can you trace this?" he asked with a worried frown. His eyes were pleading like he was begging for someone to help him. Gear nodded and picked up the strange looking bug.

"What is it?" he asked noting that Phantom was slightly freaking out.

"Your thing read that the signature was weak, right?" Phantom asked as his nervousness shown though. "Would the trail show up as a weaker ghost if it was left for a long time, even when humans pass though it for a while?"

"Yeah, they would disrupt the line of a more powerful ghost?" Gear guessed not sure. Phantom still looked panicked and Static hoped that he wouldn't leave.

"Someone knows I'm here, and they set the alarm to go off. Nothing was taken, but this was left. He set the alarm to go off so your scanner would read a lower level ghost or being or whatever…my point is, someone knew I was going to be here before I did," Phantom explained as he felt his heart thunder in his chest. It had been a while since he could really feel his heart in his ghost form, and he knew it was from being so weaken and drained that he could feel his human side more than his ghost.

"You think someone is tracking you down even after…wait, you are considered dead," Gear stated looking at Phantom. "Phantom you is considered dead; you're human half is just labeled as missing."

"What?" Phantom mumbled completely confused. Virgil gave a sigh.

"Fenton is just missing while Phantom is considered dead, so whoever knows you're here is probably bad news," Static stated as they looked around the bank quickly. "Let's get out of here."

They headed out just as the two officers exited their vehicle. Phantom straightened and backed behind Gear. Static realized that the one was the officer he talked to earlier that day.

"Did you find anything new?" he asked looking at the young teen that was hiding behind them. He was wearing a black cloak and had the hood up hiding his face. He almost disappeared into the night if it wasn't for the glow that came from him.

"Yeah, but I don't think you have anything to worry about," Static stated watching Phantom carefully. The officer looked around Gear to try to see the young teen.

"Who are you?" he questioned wanting to know who the teen was. Static stepped in front of him.

"He…his name is Phantom," Static stated looking at the officer. "No one can know where he is or who he is because…well…it would be bad."

"For everyone involved," Gear informed grinning like an idiot before activating his skates. "We better go before anything else happens." Static nodded and pulled out his disk and let it expand. He jumped on it and the three were off; Phantom flying slightly faster than them.

"I thought I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else," Phantom whispered looking at Static.

"I didn't think that he was going to stay," Static defended. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't prepared for that."

"Well, we better get home," Gear stated nodding to Static. "We can pick everything back up tomorrow. Besides, Phantom's levels are slightly lower than they were when we first came here, and I still have that bug thingy."

"Very technical," Phantom mumbled with a small smile. Static started laughing as they parted ways. Phantom felt the phone in his pocket vibrate and he took it out completely forgetting about it.

"Hey, that's my dad's," Static stated watching the ghost teen carefully.

"He gave it to me," Phantom mumbled hoping that he wasn't going to get chewed out for it. He answered it. "Hello?"

_"Danny, where are you guys?"_ It was Robert.

"Heading back."

_"Alright, is Virgil there?"_

"Yeah."

_"Can you put him on?"_

"It's for you," Phantom whispered handing the phone to the hero. Static took it warily.

"Yeah."

_"Virgil, I don't want you to freak at Phantom for having my phone. I did give it to him, and you weren't answering yours."_

"I left at the gas station," Static stated slapping his forehead. He sent an apologetic look to Phantom before kicking his disk faster to get home. Phantom kept pace without having an issue. "We'll be home shortly. See ya."

_"Love you, Son."_

"Love you too," Static hurried and hung up handing the phone back to the hybrid. "You play video games?"

"Sometimes. I haven't in a while," Phantom whispered looking down and flying slightly higher. Static looked down and noticed that there were a few people on the streets who were walking home from work.

"They don't know we're up here. They're too busy to look up," Static stated with a smile at the hybrid.

"Don't care," Phantom muttered as they turned a corner and slipped into an alley. Phantom turned and made sure no one was coming while Static slipped back into his street clothes.

"Are you changing or walking around like that?" Virgil asked as he zipped up his bag. Phantom looked down and let the rings appear to change him back to normal. He let out a hacking cough before straightening himself out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Danny whispered feeling his throat tighten. He had never really gotten sick since he had his powers, and now wasn't really the best time to catch something. Especially if Vlad was tracking him.

"If you're sick…" Virgil started only for Danny shake his head and start walking away. When they got to the end a cop car pulled up in front of them. Danny tensed and shuttered trying to keep his fears back, but when the officers got out, the female smiled kindly at Virgil.

"Virgil, another short cut home?" she questioned raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah, this is my friend Danny," Virgil introduced not liking how the other one was looking at the hybrid.

"Someone called us up saying that a killer teen had just come though. They gave a description of your friend here," Trina informed watching the teen carefully. Virgil looked at Danny confused.

"It's not him. He can barely bat at a fly without feeling bad," Virgil stated hoping that he was right in protecting Danny. If Danny had nothing to do with it, then he had every right to protect him, but he had no idea what caused Danny to really leave. They were cut off before they could dig much deeper into the papers they had found.

"I still want to talk to him," she stated walking towards Danny only for Virgil to step between them.

"Can we go to my house then? Danny…he," Virgil looked back at his friend and seen complete fear and panic. "He's been though a lot and my dad is trying to help. I don't think it'll help Danny open up if you take him."

"Can I trust you guys to meet us there?" she questioned looking at Virgil.

"Yeah, of course, that's where we're heading now actually," Virgil smiled keeping a careful eye on his friend. Danny was leaning against a wall now trying to keep himself from falling apart as it was, and he really didn't need anything else to freak him out.

"We can give you a ride," Trina offered causing Danny to run the other way. Virgil sighed.

"I'll get him, but I don't think he's going to get a ride. He…he won't even get into our vehicles. He prefers walking…he's just distrustful," Virgil explained. "He's been hurt…a lot," Virgil whispered remembering the scars that littered the teen's body. "I'll see you later?"

"Just make sure he's there," Trina stated as she turned back to the car. The guy looked like he wanted to give chase but Trina already shook her head. "We'll wait until we get to Robert's home. He works with kids who have been hurt, and this is probably the start of another case he plans on helping as much as he can." The officer nodded and got in as they headed to the Hawkins home.

"Danny, this isn't cool," Virgil muttered walking back to their house. He should have gone after him right away, but then Trina and her partner would have followed. He looked up hoping that maybe he changed into Phantom and was just flying above him, but the sky was clear. He knew it was almost impossible to find the ghost since he could vanish from the visible spectrum.

Suddenly a cold pocket of air appeared next to him, and Virgil almost jumped out of his skin when a voice suddenly started speaking.

"Thanks," it whispered before the cold got worse. Virgil looked to his right.

"Danny?" he asked the air hoping he wasn't starting to become insane.

"Who else do you know that can vanish and then turn everything freezing within no time?" the voice taunted having a slightly joking edge.

"That's the first time I heard you joke since meeting you," Virgil laughed getting weird looks from everyone around him.

"You realize it looks like you're talking to yourself," Phantom whispered grinning, even though no one could really see it. "Now I made you look crazy."

"Like I needed that," Virgil muttered as they turned onto his street. The police car was already sitting in the driveway. "Man, I was hoping for enough time to help explain some things to my dad."

"Me too," Danny whispered with a shake.

* * *

**Danny: Okay...no more freaking rules...**

**Me: it pisses me off...stupid human race.**

**Danny: really...you take it out on all of them**

**Me: Yes, so shut the hell up.**

**Danny: Okay then...she drew what Danny's outfit looks like on devainart if ya'll are interested.**

**dizzlypuzzled. deviantart #/ d5qkoct**

**There's also one for Broken Hearts...**

**Me: Its flipping epic...although that one...I have no idea what happened and it made me sad while I was trying to make myself happy.**

**Danny: yeah, she set Phantom crying in front of a grave...**

**Me: Anyone what to write a story that one? If so, tell me...it would be cool to read...and I'll mention in in all three stories for ya...**

**I don't own any of these shows, and its been a while since I wrote one of those...its also saying it for this story entirely...**

**Please review, and don't give dogs chocolate...it'll kill them...believe me, I know these things...my friend's dog died from it...although she's not really a close friend...just one of those people who you know that can be a friend if you fell like it...really strange.**


	4. The Past

Ice Lightening

Chapter Three

The Past

_"Stumbling is not falling."_

_~Malcolm X~_

* * *

"Danny?" Robert asked looking at his ex. He couldn't see Danny hurting anyone without a reason, and even then with one he still couldn't. He read about how he protected those who hated him and wished him destroyed. Danny wouldn't hurt anyone unless it was for self defense. "It's not him. I've been trying to get him to open up, but even I can see he's a good kid. He would never do something like that."

"Robert, I know he might seem nice, but even good kids have a dark side," Trina stated. "I'm worried that your family might be in danger from the boy if he is who we are looking for."

"May I ask what happened? I know Danny has his dark side, my son and daughter have seen the results from…" Robert was cut off by Trina's partner.

"So he hurt them?" he pushed wanting to get out of here and go home. He knew that kid was who they were looking for, and the sooner they find him, the sooner he could go home.

"He never hurt them, but he scared them. He…he's been tortured, and we didn't know, but Sharon opened the door when he had just gotten out of the shower, and…" Robert began only for Sharon to cut him off this time.

"That kid's body looked like some kind of canvas for an artist. He is covered with scars, and he refuses to tell us what really happened," she fumed tired of feeling like she was left in the dark. Trina took a step back.

"That's not helping his case; it could give him motive," she stated. Robert shook his head.

"Danny has many secrets, and I know parts of a dark one, but he's still just a kid," Robert stated trying to think of something to help Danny out with, but he hadn't been with them that long. Virgil was hanging out with him more than they had seen him, but he didn't want them to believe that Danny was a killer.

"What can you tell us about his dark secret then?" Trina asked needing more information on the kid. Robert shook his head.

"If I truly thought that he was a threat then I would tell you, but it's not my secret to tell. My family would be in more danger if I told you," Robert stated.

"He threatened you to keep it quiet?" Trina asked feeling slightly overprotective.

"No, the people who are after him will. I'm protecting him; and right now, my family is all the kid has at the moment," Robert informed watching Sharon glare across the room. He knew that Virgil told her something different, but he needed Trina to know that Danny wasn't going to hurt them.

The door opened to reveal Virgil and Danny. Of course Danny was hiding behind Virgil, but everyone knew he was there.

"You caught him," Trina stated looking at the young teen who was trying to keep himself from bolting again.

"He ran from you?" Robert questioned. That wasn't helping, but he couldn't punish the kid since he seemed like he always wanted to run from anyone, and not just cops.

"Pops, he ran from Richie the first time they met, so this isn't all that surprising," Virgil joked knowing that was a lie. He and Richie were introduced and they decided to mess with Richie's head a little, but Virgil thought that if Danny didn't already know who Richie was, then he probably would have.

"This is true," Robert stated going along with it. It would help them get the cops to relax around the kid, but when Virgil turned back around to address Danny, the teen had already bolted into the kitchen. "I'm going to talk to Danny for a moment before we do anything else. I don't want him to start to go back on trusting us. He hardly does already, and I don't want all that work to go to waste."

"So how have you guys been?" Virgil asked as Robert walked into the kitchen and shut the door.

* * *

"Danny?" Robert looked around the room for the kid. He was behind the refrigerator trying to keep himself from falling apart.

"Don't," he whispered sliding down to the ground. "I don't want to talk to them."

"What do you know about the killings then?" Robert asked sitting down in front of him. He watched as Danny tensed.

"I might know who did it, and…I'm the one they are looking for," Danny whispered looking up. "But I didn't do anything. It's a…it's a trap to get me out in the open."

"How do you know?" Robert gently questioned hoping that this would help the teen rather than make things worse.

"The thing at the bank was a set up," Danny whispered leaning back against the wall and looking at the ceiling. "Someone knows where I am…I don't want them to use the police against you. I can't stay long without putting you guys in danger."

"Danny, you don't have to worry about it," Robert stated. "I have some people who are high up in the system, and they'll work with us. We can straighten everything out."

"I don't want him to come after you," Danny whispered at him. "You guys have been so nice, but I don't think…"

"Danny, you're safe here. Not many people know where I live anyway, but I promise that whoever they are, they won't be able to find you unless you let them," Robert promised. "But we still need to tell Trina and her partner something. Anything that'll help them."

"You can't tell them the truth without exposing me and Virgil," Danny whispered looking around the corner when someone knocked on the door.

"Robert, we need to talk to him now," Trina called though it. Danny looked at Robert.

"I can't…I can't calm down," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around his legs and pulling them closer to his chest.

"It's okay," Robert whispered looking at the door. There was no way Danny could talk to them without seeming suspicious about something. "You had nothing to do with those deaths, so if we can figure out how to calm you down so you can at least answer the questions."

"I won't have an alibi," Danny whispered. "Whenever they happened, I might not have even been in Dakota yet…wait…how can you trust me so easily?"

"Why are you questioning that?" Robert questioned as his second thoughts came back up. He had been trying to keep them down because of what he knew about Danny being half ghost. He learned that Phantom had done many great things to help and protect people, but there were also a few times where he seemed to have slipped.

"My own trust issues are probably the reason," Danny muttered looking up. "I…"

"You don't completely trust us, and you're wondering why we trust you," Robert whispered gently putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny just tightened his arms around his legs and closed his eyes. "I've looked up some of the things you have done as Phantom, and there are a few things I wish to ask about. But most of things you have saved lives and done things to protect people."

"I still can't calm down. I won't be able to," Danny muttered as he heard the door open. Robert looked up at Trina who had walked over to them and sat down next to her ex.

"I need to ask these questions, and if you answer them honestly, I won't have to do anything farther," Trina stated glad that she got her partner to stay in the other room. Danny shook his head and buried it in his knees.

"Danny?" Robert asked gently shaking the teen's shoulder. "Just ask the first question; he might still answer. He'll be nervous though. He doesn't know you."

"That's alright," Trina started not sure how she was going to tell the difference between him being nervous because he was lying or because he was scared of her. "Where were you three nights ago?"

Silence met the answer, and Danny had no idea how to even answer that. He was just outside Dakota, but he still had no idea where the murders had taken place. He tried to think of how to word his answer because he had no idea where exactly he was.

"I…" he started, but he felt his heart start pounding in his ears. He took in a few deep breaths, but it wasn't helping. He started hyperventilating.

"Danny," Robert asked concern for the young teen. "Trina, get me that paper bag from up there. He's having a panic attack." Trina nodded and picked up the bag as Danny looked up at her. Pain exploded in his scars and he screamed. Everyone in the house was frozen. The three from the other room charged in only to see that Danny had collapsed on the floor unconscious. A long line of blood started pouring out of an unseen wound under his shirt.

"Danny?" Virgil called startled. He had never heard someone be in such pain like that.

"We need to close his wound before he bleeds out," Robert stated making Virgil grab the first aid kit. Robert gently held him up as Trina took off the shirt. Her partner had grabbed a few paper towels from the roll that was sitting on the kitchen table and knelt down next to them. Robert followed a scar that had reopened.

"Oh my god," Trina whispered shaking slightly from the amount of scars that littered the kid's body.

"Yeah," Robert whispered as the bleeding slowed. "Virgil, was he hurt?"

"No, he was fine," he answered giving his father the gauze and dressing from the kit. "We didn't get into any trouble that would cause something like that."

"Is that green?" Trina asked gently running her fingers along the wound that appeared out of nowhere. "He's bleeding green."

"I see this," Robert stated knowing that was probably from his ghost side. He held the gauze against the slightly bleeding wound and held Danny up so Trina could wrap it down. Virgil looked like he was going to be sick. "Let's get him up to Virgil's room. He can stay in there until we get a place set up for him."

"Are you sure you don't want to take him to the hospital? He could be a bang baby, and they might be able to help him. I heard they found a possible cure," she informed looking at them.

"We'll have to ask him," Robert covered knowing that Danny wasn't. It would only hurt him more.

"Why is he so thin?" Trina asked running her fingers over the ribs that were now visible. She took in more of him as they prepared to move him.

"Let's just get him upstairs," Robert whispered sadly. He now had the full picture on how bad Danny's health really was. Robert picked up Danny's legs while Virgil picked up his torso being carefully of the wound. Trina nodded to her partner.

"I don't think in his condition he could hurt anyone the way that those people were," she whispered watching as the young boy was carried upstairs. "Let's go. We'll try to talk to him later." Her partner agreed feeling like crap. He knew people suffered worse than what he was, but he never thought he would meet one of them.

* * *

"Pops, what happened?" Virgil asked while they gently laid the hybrid down on the bed.

"Trina asked him where he was a few nights ago, and he just sat there trying to figure it out. Suddenly he screamed and started bleeding. What did you guys do today?" Robert asked.

"We just investigated a robbery that didn't happen and then while Danny was here, me and Richie looked into his past trying to piece a few things together about him that he wasn't going to talk about," Virgil stated.

"He wasn't hurt?" Robert clarified.

"No, we never got into a fight. He was frustrated and seemed slightly off when we were flying, but he had control of his powers. Nothing seemed bad…he ran from Trina and her partner, and I didn't know where he was for a few moments. He may have gotten into trouble then," Virgil stated looking at the halfa resting on the bed. "What are we going to do? We know almost nothing about how to take care of him."

"We'll figure that out, but what did you find on him?" Robert asked wanting to know more.

"His real name is Danny Fenton, and his parents were ghost hunters that were after Phantom. He's considered missing while Phantom is considered destroyed," Virgil answered. "His classmates were accused of killing someone who was involved in catching him. He was put in a lab, and…that's probably where he got most of his scars."

"Explains a lot of his distrustful behavior," Robert whispered watching the young teen with worry. "Although, Amity Park is without their protector. The town will probably fall apart with fighting over him."

"It already started. Apparently this one ghost hunter only went after him just to annoy him on their free time. When another ghost showed up, they worked together," Virgil informed. "In respect for him now, she goes out and fights the ghosts he's suppose to with his symbol on her board."

"What made her come out?" Robert asked.

"One of the weakest ghosts that Phantom fought killed fourteen people," Virgil whispered. "Without him there…Amity is destroying itself."

"Who captured him?" Robert asked trying to keep himself calm. He was beyond angry. This kid fought for people who weren't afraid to show their hatred for him, and now they realize what they lost once he's gone.

"He stopped our searching before we could figure it out," Virgil answered. "He was mad at us for looking into his past."

"That's because he doesn't trust you completely yet," Robert explained walking closer to the hybrid and sitting on the bed. "Whatever happened to him hurt so much that he doesn't want to be around other humans."

"We can only help him get over his fears," Virgil whispered collapsing into his computer chair. He started spinning trying to think of something to help Danny. When they heard the young ghost groan and a bright light appeared around his waist. It traveled across his body changing him back into Phantom.

"Danny?" Robert asked gently. Phantom groaned and rolled over on his side; the one that had started bleeding and shot straight into the air with a gasp in pain.

"Ow," he muttered wrapping his arms around his body and slowly floating back onto the bed.

"What happened?' Virgil asked looking his friend up and down. Phantom's eyes were dull and almost lifeless.

"I have no idea," he whispered as he moved his hand. Green stained his white glove as he pulled away. "I don't understand."

"You were bleeding pretty badly. What do you remember?" Robert asked hoping that they didn't hurt the teen more than he already was.

"Everything," Phantom whispered as his powers surrounded him in a protective shield. Virgil stood up feeling the electrical current coming from Phantom's shield.

"Danny?" Virgil asked as Phantom looked up at him with pained eyes.

"I'm sorry to have worried you," he whispered not sure what else to say. Robert gently reached though the shield mindful of the wary look Phantom was giving him.

"It's okay. You had no control of it," Robert whispered.

"Yes, I did. I didn't want to answer the questions," Phantom confessed. "Please don't hate me, but it was the only thing I could think of at the time."

"You screamed…" Virgil muttered not sure what to think.

"It's not that hard to fake for me anymore. I've done it enough for real to be a professional," Phantom whispered. "Although ripping open one of my scars wasn't in the plan. That was an accident."

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Virgil stated slightly loud. Phantom flinched back.

"I'm sorry," Phantom whispered. Robert gently squeezed Phantom's shoulder.

"It's okay," Robert whispered. "I understand. You were afraid, and you did the only thing you thought you had to."

"They left, and I felt like it was safe to wake up," Phantom muttered sending a glare in Virgil's direction. "Although it told how much you know about me now."

"You knew all that?" Virgil stated completely confused.

"Most of it. Val…the Red Huntress having my insignia on her board threw me, but I knew about the deaths, and the murder of the agent," Phantom whispered.

"Agent?" Robert asked.

"The Guys in White are a secretly funded 'government' group that hunts and destroys paranormal beings. No matter what they may or may not have done," Phantom explained. "You'll never find it online or anywhere. You would only know about them if you were from Amity or were told."

"Why are you telling us?" Robert questioned hoping it was because the teen decided to open up.

"Because that's who I'm running from. They're not exactly 'secret'. They're really stupid, and the only reason that they were able to catch me was because I refused to let them hurt anyone else," Phantom growled. "They used my weakness to not harm a human against me."

"That's not a weakness," Virgil whispered. "It's who you are."

"They still used it against me…I…" Phantom stopped as tears started streaming down his face. Robert gently wrapped his arms around the young teen knowing that he needed all the comfort he could get. Phantom leaned into the hug as his cloak seemed to tighten around him.

"No one here will take advantage of you," Robert promised gently rubbing the teen's back. Virgil just sat there unsure of what to do. "It's okay."

"Sorry," Phantom mumbled when he realized what had happened. He couldn't believe he let himself go like that.

"Dude, everyone needs a shoulder to cry on," Virgil smiled softly. "You more than others."

"Danny, it won't hurt you to let your guard down once and while," Robert smiled gently as Phantom pulled away. He wrapped his arms around his legs once more and curled up on the side that didn't have an open wound. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…I'm fine," Phantom whispered. "I just can't get myself to change back into my human form. It's probably because I'm injured."

"I'm going to go and make some dinner. Virgil, check his wound and make sure it stopped bleeding," Robert informed standing up and leaving the room. Virgil stood up and got out his personal first aid kit.

"You don't mind, right?" Virgil smiled as he sat down next to the hybrid. Phantom didn't move at all. His cloak was still covering him up. "Danny, are you sure you're okay?"

"No, but there's not much anyone can do to make it okay," Phantom muttered angrily. He didn't want to be helped by these people, no matter how much he appreciated it. He wanted his family and his friends there to help, but there wasn't much of a choice. Not anymore

"Can I see your wound then?" Virgil asked. "We need to make sure that the bleeding stopped."

"It did," Phantom answered. "That's why I changed forms. My ghost side heals faster than my human one. I can't change back until it's healed either."

"How long does that take?" Virgil asked curiously.

"Good question," Phantom muttered. "I have no idea. My entire body has changed from what it used to react like. Everything been reversed and turned around."

"Well, we can learn how to take care of you together then," Virgil joked with a smile trying to get the young teen to relax a little. Phantom just adjusted himself deeper into his cloak. Virgil gave a sigh. "Got any ideas? Because I don't have anything."

"Can I be alone?" Phantom asked feeling more tears and pain come. He missed his family and friends. He wanted everything to go back before he was captured and everything was hell. He wanted his life back. Virgil sighed.

"I guess, but don't leave," Virgil asked. "You're like the first person I can actually talk to about being a superhero that has already done so many great things. Everyone else I meet leaves right after we're done, and it would be an honor to learn a few tricks from the Danny Phantom: Ghostly Superhero of Amity Park. Besides, you'll run yourself into the ground before you ask anyone else for help."

"Tricks don't get you anywhere. Knowing who to trust is what helps," Phantom muttered. Virgil turned to him with a frown.

"What do you mean?" he questioned watching as Phantom turned away from him.

"My family isn't looking for me. They're trying to get away from me," Phantom whispered closing his eyes. Virgil walked out of the room getting the feeling that so much more was going on than what he had originally thought.

"Virgil?" Robert asked watching as his son descended the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"That lie we told Sharon about how Danny came from a troubled home might not be that far off anymore. His family is running from him," he stated looking at the ground. "I think it's because he's half ghost. He's different. I mean, why would they…how could they just leave him?"

"We don't know the whole story, Virgil," Robert stated making sure that Sharon was still in the kitchen. "We have to be careful on what we think. He's in pain, and he might just be lashing out at whatever he can to help make the pain go away."

"Yeah, but what would be more painful than having your family leave you just because of an accident?" Virgil asked. "I don't know what I would've done if you didn't accept me being Static. You were worried I would get hurt, but they…if…what if they didn't want him because he had powers of something they hunted? They let the Guys in White take him?"

"I don't know, but whatever happened, we'll be walking on eggshells not to hurt Danny more than he already is," Robert informed. "He needs people that will stand by him."

"I want to learn more about his family, but I promised him that next we did anything to try learn more about him I would ask permission. He didn't like it the first time," Virgil whispered. "Think he'll be okay with me looking into his family."

"Not now," Robert stated. "Has he changed back yet?"

"No, he's still Phantom. He doesn't know when he'll be able to change back either. He said something about until the wound heals and that everything was reversed," Virgil explained. "I think he's afraid of letting anyone else know how his body works. He didn't seem very concerned about it."

"Physical pain might be his way of showing people that he's in mental pain. That's how many people show their inner pain and sometimes even try to hide it," Robert stated looking up the stairs. "We have to keep a careful eye on him."

"You don't think he would. I mean, he said that the wound was an accident," Virgil stated not sure what to think. Robert shook his head.

"He's breaking down. He's had to hold so many emotions in for such a long time because of his fight to survive that now everything is starting to catch up to him," Robert stated. "He does not have to fight to stay alive or have to worry about someone attacking him in an ally. He's in a safe place, and he knows it."

"What more can we do?" Virgil asked. Sharon walked in from the kitchen.

"You guys are keeping something from me about him, and I want to know what it is," she demanded angrily. Robert shook his head.

"I'm not saying anything unless he wants to let you in, Sharon. You have to remember that he is still like any other kid that's in pain. He might have been though worse than many of them, but he'll still react the same way," Robert explained. "We have to be careful not to upset him too badly that he'll take off. If we can't help him open up now, he may never truly open up to anyone ever again."

"Alright, but I'm still mad at you," Sharon stated pointing at Virgil and walking back into the kitchen.

"What'd I do?" Virgil asked with a grin. Robert shook his head.

* * *

Phantom laid across the bed as a blue light surrounded his side. He felt the skin stitch itself back together. He looked up at the ceiling and wondered why he even opened up to these people. He had stopped by several homeless shelters while he was running, and no one even looked at him twice.

"I wonder if Clockwork is messing with me again," Phantom whispered letting out a sigh. He sat up and looked out the window. He could see several stars dancing around in the sky. He wished that he was with his family again, but…that would never happen again. They would never believe him no matter what happened.

Suddenly the rings appeared around his waist and changed him back just as the door opened to reveal Robert.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked walking inside and sitting next to the hybrid. Danny just sighed.

"I'm…I don't know," he whispered. "Everything is so much now."

"You don't have to worry about fighting to survive now," Robert explained. "Now you are trying to come to terms with whatever happened."

"You're here to say that whenever I feel like talking I can come to you," Danny stated staring at the wall across from them. Robert smiled.

"Something like that. Or you can talk to Virgil or Sharon," he stated. "Anyone will be willing help you here. You just have to let them."

"My sister wanted to be a psychologist," Danny whispered. "I only went to her when I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone else. She recorded our conversations saying it was to help her understand. I let her…I let them in."

"Them?" Robert asked looking at Danny carefully. Tears had formed in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"She played them for my mo…Maddie and Jack," Danny stated harshly. Robert flinched slightly as the temperature in the room dropped slightly. "They had known a few weeks before…before that day. The only one who gave me a hint was my teacher. He kept giving me sad looks in the hallway until I was in his class. He handed me a note…it told me to run, to get out of Amity."

"What happened?" Robert asked feeling better now that Danny had opened up some of what happened.

"I didn't listen. I was confused and he knew that. He didn't explain, but when I left class, it was because of the fire alarm. He pulled me away from everyone else and told me that I was in danger. That he knew about Phantom. He wanted me to get out of there, but it was too late. By the time I figured it out, I was surrounded, and he was gone," Danny explained. "I have no idea what happened to him, but I wish I would have listened when he handed me that note."

* * *

**Danny: Well, this story gets depressing in later chapters...yes, this is one story she is ahead on...by like three chapters...**

**Me: Broken Hearts is where I'm having to watch an episode and write at the same time...those chapters will take longer since they are longer chapters...this one is shorter...and I had a few ideas on this that intertwined quite nicely, so I've been writing on this like crazy, but don't worry...the next thing I put up with either be Black Phantom or Broken Hearts...or if someone ends up getting a question right and choose this story to updated...**

**Danny: Now for the chance to choose which of her stories to update or she'll continue on her random schedule.**

**Me: Which villain is my favorite? Very few I have actually told, and if you remember, then go ahead and answer. Those who get it right get to pick the next story to be updated...unless it's Broken Hearts...that's just going to wait until I have patience...**

**Danny:...and here we go...**

**Me: Danny, they don't need hints since I recently told of couple of them.**

**Danny: Another hint...its not in the Danny Phantom universe...**

**Me: Yeah, none will ever measure up...heehee...**

**Danny: So answer it right, and get your choose of which story will be ahead of the game...you will have to give her time to work on the chapter if it isn't already ahead of the game.**

**Me: I'm trying to get at least a chapter ahead on all of them so we can play this without having to work too badly like this.**


	5. Haunting

Ice Lightening

Chapter Four

_Haunting_

_"So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good."_

_~Helen Keller~_

* * *

"Virgil, can you help me?" Sharon walked into the room where Virgil was spread across the couch. He was out. "Virgil, I need someone to take out the trash."

"I can do it," Danny whispered as he slowly walked down the stairs. Sharon jumped to the side and let out a squeal. Danny just smiled at her. "Where do you want it?"

"Just out back," she pointed as Danny walked into the kitchen. She followed and watched as he lifted it out like it was nothing. Like his side wasn't hurt at all. "There's a larger one outside."

"Okay," Danny whispered as he hauled the bag out. Sharon gave a sigh glad that someone around the house was willing to help. She sent a glare at Virgil. She started filling up a glass of water when Danny entered.

"You want to get Mr. Sleeps-All-the-Time up?" she asked and was slightly creped out by the smile Danny showed.

"It would be my pleasure. Have a camera?" he asked with a grin. Sharon let a smile appear and grabbed one that was sitting on the table while Danny grabbed a couple ice cubes from the freezer.

"This should be good," Sharon grinned while she set the camera up. Danny slowly walked over to Virgil careful not to wake him up and put the ice cubes down his shirt. His eyes shot open as he yelped.

"Get it off me, Get it off," he repeated jumping around the room trying to get the cube out of his shirt. He looked at Danny who was leaning over the couch with a smile while Sharon was laughing so hard that the camera fell out of her hands.

"I could get use to seeing you wake up like that," she laughed while Danny looked away.

"I have, like, a whole list of evil ways to wake people up. Some of them no one but me can do," he grinned remembering how he had woken his friends using their dreams. "Most of them was used on me though, so I know how you feel."

"I will get you back," Virgil promised glaring at his new friend. Danny just grinned as Sharon walked back into the kitchen to re-watch the video. Her grin was the biggest she had ever had.

"Try it, and I'll literally haunt your dreams," Danny threatened with a grin. "Surprisingly, I can do many things with my powers, including invade your dreams."

"How would you figure that out?" Virgil asked narrowing his eyes. Danny shrugged.

"Ghost of sleep made everyone to go to sleep and I had to find a way to wake them up so I could stop him," Danny explained walking around the couch and sitting down.

"You're crazy, you know that," he stated while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Suddenly his door opened and Richie came running in.

"Have you guys seen the news yet today?" he questioned with a hint of fear in his voice. Danny instantly picked up on it and was on full alert mode.

"No, I was just rudely woken up by my sister and house guest," he pointed to Danny who grinned a little, but was fully paying attention to what Richie had to say.

"They know that we have someone on our team, but they don't know who it is," Richie stated looking at Danny. "The things they are throwing out there aren't good ones either. They think one of the villains decided to turn straight before they got caught…"

"They think I'm a bang baby?" Danny questioned. "That's kind of where I wanted their minds to go."

"He has a point," Virgil stated. "How do they know that he's not a new bang baby or one that mastered his powers before helping us out?"

"The police guy we had talked to," Richie pointed out as he turned on the TV. "He's the one that started that rumor. It's spread like wild fire."

"Okay," Danny mumbled irritated. "I tried to avoid that kind of thinking. It's too close to Phantom's background."

"You changing your name?" Virgil questioned looking at him.

"I have a better idea," Danny mumbled looking around. "No, we let them know that Phantom's alive, but we also give out hints that may be he was here in Dakota during the Big Bang. Mix in the fact that I could have had ectoplasmic encounters before and then I got ghost like powers."

"That would make sure that they couldn't get you anymore," Virgil stated. "You would be protected here. Dakota has a no tolerance for meta-human experimentation. If you go public with Static and Gear behind you, we would be able to explain everything before they realized where you even are. You would be recognized by more here. We have contacts that would help us if needed."

"Whoever left that bug though is probably still hiding that information," Richie stated. "I tried to track it, but the computer system it was linked was shut down."

"We'll have to do that soon," Virgil informed looking at Danny. "We'll go to the Gas Station later and figure out what we can say." Danny just nodded.

"Alright," Danny whispered. Richie gently put his hand on the hybrid's shoulder.

"Breakfast first," he grinned shoving Danny towards the kitchen. "Virgil can get ready for the day while we gorge ourselves on his food."

"Thanks, Richie," Virgil smarted back as he headed up the stairs. Danny smiled.

* * *

"So, I've gotten the signal narrowed to the northern part of Wisconsin," Gear explained as he showed Phantom and Static his hologram tracking program. "But the signal died before I could finish the trace."

"Here," Phantom pointed to a place where the closest town was almost five miles away. "Plasmius, my arch enemy. He's the only one who lives in Wisconsin."

"So we have where, who, and now we just need why, when, and how?" Static stated. Phantom nodded.

"Why is because I had everything he wanted. I had a family, friends, and acceptance. He had to strip me of everything," Phantom explained pulling his cloak around him and looked away from them. "He took all that away from me."

"Even your friends?" Gear questioned wondering how good of friends he really had if they were really to leave him after everything.

"My family didn't know about me," Phantom explained sitting down. "My sister figured it out, and I think that's when everything started going downhill. I feared what my parents would think about me, but never did it cross my mind that my friends would do what they had done."

"What exactly happened?" Gear asked. Phantom closed his eyes and shook his head. He pulled the hood of his cloak up and let it fall closed scooting away.

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered shaking his head. Static gently put his hand on the ghost's back to stop him before he tripped over a few gadgets that were still on the ground.

"You don't have to yet," he promised with a smile. Suddenly Gear jumped and ran to the back of the room.

"I forgot something. I had made it last night," Gear explained as he dug through his bag. Phantom looked up at him confused until he showed him a shockbox. Like the one they both had. "Here, Phantom. We can keep in touch better when we go out on patrol."

"I don't think..." Phantom began only for Static to pick up the device and hand to the young ghost.

"Dude, you deserve it. Plus it'll help us keep in touch in case we get into trouble and you aren't with us," Gear cut him off.

"Or if you get in a tight spot...or lost," Static added as an afterthought.

"Thanks," Phantom smiled after sending a glare at Static. He hooked the device to his belt, and it turned black and white with his symbol appearing on the top. The strips were still there, but it was now all inverted.

"Whoa," Gear muttered surprised. Phantom looked even more.

"Usually my ghost side only accepts things that I want it to," Phantom whispered.

"Maybe it's trying to tell you something," Gear suggested with a grin. "Now you're officially part of the Dakota Duo!"

"Then it wouldn't be a duo," Phantom pointed out with a small smile. He would never be welcome back to Amity Park. He didn't even want to go back anyway. There were too many painful memories.

"The Dakota Trio," Static grinned pulling Gear and Phantom into a head lock. They all grinned until Phantom started pulling away. "Come on, join the fun."

"You're hurting me," Phantom complained pulling away and cracking his neck.

"You'll be fine," Gear shrugged off. "So, we got all day to goof around..."

_"Robbery in progress at Dakota National. All units report; hostage situation,"_ the radio announced making Static and Gear immediately get ready to go.

"Phantom, you coming?" Static asked with a smile. "We could use your help. You might be able to get inside without any of the bad guys knowing."

"There's going to be people," Phantom whispered.

"It'll be a good way to start on a good note here," Gear grinned. "Plus, we could always use some ghost powers for something like this."

"Phantom, come on. You'll have to get over this fear eventually," Static stated as he jumped on his disk. "Let's go."

"Fine," Phantom sighed figuring it would be better to help rather than just hang around there. It would help get his mind out of his past.

* * *

"Answer the phone," the SWAT leader yelled out towards the bank trying to get criminals to answer them.

"Hey, what do we have?" Static asked landing. Phantom stayed behind them and looked around them when he realized who the SWAT leader was.

"Michael?" Phantom asked stepping forward. Michael turned around suddenly at the sound of a familiar superhero teen.

"Phantom?" he asked with wide eyes. "No way...there is no way...I thought you were..."

"Dead?" the ghost smiled slightly. "Get that a lot."

"Man, I'm so glad you're still alright. My daughter literally held a memorial for you with her friends. Geez, she'll be so happy," Michael grinned giving the ghost a hug. Phantom tensed, but slowly relaxed and hesitantly returned it. Gear and Static looked at each other unsure of what to say with a comical look on their faces. "We could really use you right now too."

"I guess I'm here to help then," Phantom smiled slightly with a touch of nervousness.

"Awesome, because we can't get anyone to answer us, we got no eyes in there," the leader informed. Static and Gear just sat back as Phantom took over. It was the first time he started without having to be pushed by them to do something.

"Hey, you still have those one cameras?" Phantom questioned looking at the building. Michael grinned.

"This just made my job so much easier. Just don't get shot this time," he stated handing the ghost the two cameras and a headset so they could still keep in touch. Phantom nodded and disappeared into the ground.

"I haven't seen you before, but you know the ghost?" Static asked raising an eyebrow.

"He used to be our inside during things like this back in Amity Park. We had it down to where within an hour we could clear the area take down the suspects and be gone," Michael explained. "Most of the things Phantom came up with. We took down over twenty hostage robberies together. The criminals started getting smarter and used ghost shields that were stolen or given to them by hunters, but Phantom always found a way around them. It was amazing really. It made our job easier. We had less causalities, until the ghost hunters caught on. More people started getting hurt, and Phantom would only help if we kept a bigger perimeter and made sure that no one could hurt him. The hunters would fire at him even if he was holding a young kid."

"You had to start keeping him safe from the hunters while he tried to save hostages," Gear muttered in amazement. "That must have been hard."

"Phantom works quickly and quietly," Michael shrugged. "I told him that if he was old enough I would hire him for a special team in SWAT. I think he's a valuable ally. I just wish more people would view him that way. The hunters had weapons that would only hurt the human. They once took a shot at Phantom while he was talking to an officer. My people killed the person for putting one of their own in danger. Phantom disappeared afterward trying to stop a full blown war from occurring."

"Camera One is working," the tech stated. "It looks like the hostages are tied to support beams...wait, there's C4 strapped around them."

"Do we have a number of guys?" Michael asked looking at the picture. Phantom knew what to do now, and it wouldn't take long.

"What are we going to do?" Static asked wanting to help in some way.

"Let Phantom work," Michael stated.

"Phantom's not in any condition to continue using his powers like he use to," Gear informed.

"We have everything planned where we have crossed the Ts and dotted the I's," Michael informed. "Once Phantom dealt with something like this, but without the C4, after being thrown around town like a rag doll, he did just fine."

"Camera Two is moving," the tech stated looking at it weird.

"Phantom won't leave there without any of the hostages now that we got more information," Michael stated. "Notice what he's looking at."

"The kids in the corner where no one is watching," the tech whispered.

"They'll be coming with him on the first trip. I need a team behind that van," Michael pointed out. "Static, you think you could create a distraction when we need it?"

"I thought you were resting completely on Phantom," he smarted back only to get a glare in return.

"Phantom usually creates his own distraction, but he will always get the kids out of the way so they don't have to see. When he gets here, we'll change the plan so that he doesn't have to use energy he apparently doesn't have," Michael corrected.

"That could work, because the only powers we really seen him use is..."

_"Shh, it's okay, I'm here to help you out of here..."_

"Phantom's microphone is on," the tech stated typing on the computer to clear the image up.

"Alright, he's working his normal way," Michael whispered watching as Phantom carefully took care of the five kids.

* * *

Phantom silently slipped over to where they had the five kids tied to the support beam. He counted five guys, but only two were watching the hostages, and they didn't have a view on the kids who were crying in the corner with tape over their mouths. He let visibility returned to him making the two kids who could see him jump and more tears appear.

"Don't cry," he whispered wiping away their tears. "I'm going to get you guys out of here. Aright?" The oldest one seemed to shake her head and scoot closer to the boy next to her. Phantom looked up over the counter and made sure that he was hidden. "I'm going to take the tape off, but don't say anything, okay. I need to know a few things." The girl nodded and Phantom grabbed the end and turned it intangible. She gasped knowing that should have hurt.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Someone who has played this game so well that I've never lost anyone," Phantom smiled as he checked once more. "I need to know if there are any more kids in here."

"We're the only ones," she whispered holding on to the boy's hand. "My mom was taken to the back."

"Alright," Phantom whispered. "You guys can call me Phantom."

"My name's Mary," she whispered. Phantom smiled. "This is my brother Danny." Said boy just let more tears appear. Phantom reached over and took his tape off as well.

"Well, just so happens my name was Danny too," Phantom smiled. The boy looked up with wide eyes before wrapping his arms around Phantom's neck and holding on for dear life shaking. Phantom fought down his own fear to help the kids. Phantom turned the two intangible and got them out of the wires before getting the others who had noticed him. One started crying.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here to help you out of here," Phantom whispered as that kid wrapped herself around him as well. He took a deep breath feeling slightly claustrophobic.

"Can you handle us all?" Mary asked as she took his hand and held her brothers with her other. Phantom nodded.

"I hope so," he whispered as they disappeared. A couple adults gave a sign of relief glad that the kids were no longer strapped to the bombs, but fear for their own lives quickly made them worry again.

Phantom reappeared exactly where Michael had his team. Gear helped them get the kids into the ambulance that had arrived there whet Michael told them the plan. Static smiled at Phantom who looked slightly worried, and kept sending worried glances towards the bank.

"Phantom, Static is going to do your distraction," Michael stated only for Phantom to shake his head.

"No, it's too risky," Phantom whispered. "Keep trying to get a hold of them. There are a couple of people in there who know I took them. There are at least five of them."

"Phantom," Michael whispered, but Phantom had already walked away to look around the van.

"He's probably changed since you knew him," Static informed. "I know very little about his time in Amity besides what the papers or news has said. He doesn't talk about it much."

"I've seen that in him. He no longer has that child like wonder around him. I always enjoyed talking to him; he had something funny and knew how to relax a tense situation," Michael explained looking towards the building. "He's matured to the point where he won't let himself joke around anymore. He's hurting himself."

"We know," Static whispered. "We've been trying to get him out of the hole he dug for himself. When I first met him, he was jumpy and would hardly let anyone get near him, much less hug him like that. Although you can still get a joke out of him if you're around him long enough."

"He's good kid who just had some bad times," Michael stated. "If he was my kid, I would be the proudest parent out there." Static looked down.

"From what I've understood about his past, his parents are the ones that pretty much sent him to that lab," Static whispered looking at the SWAT leader who looked livid.

"What?" he growled out angrily.

"It's just a theory I have," Static informed. "Don't bring it up around him. Last time I brought something up that sensitive; it took me almost four hours to find him again."

"That kid deserves nothing short of everyone's respect. He's risked more than most of my men have," Michael stated. "You better make sure that he doesn't get caught."

"That's my job," Static smiled as they watched the bank carefully.

"They cameras in there were shot," Phantom informed walking over to them. "One of the kid's mothers is in the vault with the other three or more."

"We have to work on making sure to get those other people out of harm's way. We need a plan," Michael stated looking at Phantom. "Got one?"

"I never have a plan," Phantom muttered glaring at him. Michael smiled.

"Remember when those hunters tried to trap you in one of these?" he questioned looking at the hybrid. Phantom looked at him strangely.

"Yeah, they left a hole in their plan. They didn't have any unknowns, and you guys just stormed the place because you knew who they were," Phantom stated. "I just sat back and watched as they were arrested for public endangerment. I don't see how that helps now."

"There are five hunters in that crowd," Michael stated pointing out to a few guys that were dressed in white. Phantom tensed and backed away. "I have two snipers trained on each of them. Any take a shot at you, they're dead."

"Why are you telling me this?" Phantom asked as he backed into Gear who was wide eyed.

"It would be in interesting distraction," Michael stated with a grin. "Besides, I've always wanted to shoot one of them. Usually you say something like they aren't going to do anything, and then they turn around and about get you before you manage to disappear."

"They...I don't have anything against killing them anymore," Phantom whispered looking down. "So much has happened; I don't care anymore if they get themselves killed because of their own stupidity."

"Good, now we have a plan," Michael stated with a smile handing Phantom a piece of paper. "There's the map. The vault is supposed to be heat resistant because of the bang babies that have tried and succeeded in robbing this bank. I need you to take Static and Gear inside. All you need to do is make sure that those three at taken care of. Once we get them done, get those hostages that were taken down there out."

"I don't think..." Phantom began only for Static to cover his mouth.

"You really need to stop trying to do this yourself. You got the kids out by yourself, now your team is wanting to help," Static informed making Phantom cross his arms and look away.

"We need to figure out what will detonate those explosives," Michael stated. "Chances are they plan on blowing everything up once they get what they want anyway. The leader will have the detonator in order to show when he planned on getting out of there."

"What if there is more than one?" Phantom asked. "I don't want to risk them all."

"Tell them all to hold hands," Michael stated.

"I don't have the power to turn everyone intangible," Phantom confessed looking down. "I'm sorry, but...I..." Michael took a step back and really looked at Phantom now. His cloak hung back, and Michael could suddenly feel the reality of what Static and Gear had been trying to tell him. Phantom wasn't in any condition to help. He would try, but he wasn't up to it as much as he let on himself.

"There are five guys, right?" Michael confirmed deciding that going on with what they were trying to do in the first place.

"Yeah," Phantom whispered feeling useless. Mary ran up to him.

"You're going to save Mommy too, right?" she asked sweetly holding on to his cloak and pulling on it. Phantom looked away.

"I don't think I can," he whispered kneeling down to her level. "I'm not..."

"Mommy says to never say that you can't do something," she informed. "So you shouldn't either."

"She ever tell you something like you'll understand when you're older?" he questioned. Mary looked into his eyes.

"Yep, but that still doesn't mean you can't do it," she chipped. "You have to save her, she's all we got left. Daddy died protecting this country, and I don't want to lose Mommy too." Phantom stiffened and looked up at the bank before vanishing from sight.

"What the...?" Michael whispered until they heard the deafening boom of the bank exploding. Three shots were heard, and then silence consumed everything.

* * *

**Amity Park **

Lancer walked into his house feeling like crap. He tried to save Danny by warning him, but it didn't work. Danny didn't know what was going on. He couldn't. They hid everything so well, that if it wasn't for his own investigating he would have never figured it out. The Fenton parents weren't so keen on learning that their son was a hero. They held still in their believing that he was a monster bent on taking over the world.

Lancer sighed. He had a plan to help get the teens together to fight the hunters, but it was too late. He lost so many, that he had given up. He started drinking again, and he knew that it was going to be a long hard road to recover from this mess. He had a feeling that the kid managed to get out of that lab before it burnt down, but he had no idea how he could even start searching for where the kid ended up. He wanted to take care of Danny, he owed him that for not just straight up telling him what was wrong, for not saving him when he needed it most.

Danny was a good kid. Lancer knew that, but he was always hard on him to get his work done. It would help if he could get detention to make sure that Danny had time to work on it. That's the main reason Lancer even put Danny in detention when he figured it out. Danny needed time to work on it, but half the time he wasn't even scheduled for detention when Lancer put him in it. He didn't need that on his record.

Now there was no choice, Danny's life was torn away from him, and there was nothing more Lancer could do than to try to find him. He had almost drank himself into a coma the night they had taken Danny away. He was in the hospital for a few days before he went home. He went to work and got the students together to try to plan something. It wasn't a surprise when neither Sam or Tucker were there. They knew about Danny from the beginning, but something about the past year made Lancer think about Sam. Even since the year started she had been happier and more outgoing. Her friends didn't seem to notice, but everyone else did. He didn't understand it, until he found an article about a car accident in Dakota. Where Sam had gone during summer vacation with her parents, who now lived in Dakota, Lancer learned.

_Accident kills Three teens in weekend crash_

_Ray Thompson, Robert Manson, and Sam Manson were all killed..._

He knew she was visiting family, but those were her cousins. She died before the school year started.

_Who took her place at Casper High and tricked Danny and Tucker?_

Lancer had no idea about that question. All he knew is that he needed to tell Danny. He needed to know that she wasn't who he thought she was. He needed to give Danny some kind of closure for his life's betrayal. He wanted to be the support that Danny would desperately need right now.

He looked up more information about Dakota went a small article about this new hero working with the two heroes of Dakota caught his attention.

There was a tickle at the back of his mind telling him that it was Phantom. He was back, and he was fighting back.

* * *

**Danny: Wow...this got really dark...really quickly...**

**Me: I've had this chapter done for like ever...I was bored and I wanted to put something up...**

**Danny: That and none of you people are answering her questions to decide which one for her to update...**

**Me: I'm so bored...I hate the human race...I don't want to live on this planet anymore**

**Danny: She's very angry today...**

**Me: I wanted to play my video game...which I had gotten three weeks ago, and I hardly ever really play them anyway, and everytime I actually play them I get really into it and will stay for like twenty hours at a time...my mom sits there and bitches about it even though she's reading a book on her stupid phone.**

**Danny: She's ready to kill someone...probably her mom...**

**Me: She reads her phone while hogging the fucking TV, of course I'm pissed beyond belief.**

**Danny: okay, you go take a small nap or something.**

**Me: Why not just start slaughtering everyone in the house.**

**Danny: Harley, stop it.**

**Me: I hate you...**

**Danny: You hate everyone now...please review, they tend to make her mellow...probably a good thing so you don't end up with her killing...anyone. Then she wouldn't be able to update anything.**


	6. The Pain

Ice Lightening

Chapter Five

The Pain

_"The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also be the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker."_

_~Helen Keller~_

* * *

"Oh...no," Michael whispered in complete horror. People were screaming and running away from the building. Four bodies were found. Three were dressed in white with holes in their heads from the snipers, but the fourth was a citizen that was stomped on. Michael looked back at the building.

"Phantom!" Static called completely in panic. Suddenly people started appearing out of thin air in the building. They all stood up a little shaking. The medics had quickly gotten over their shock and ran to make sure that they were all okay. When everyone looked and took count, the only people not found in the mess were the thieves and Phantom. Static and Gear quickly looked though the pile of rubble trying to find their friend.

"Static, he's over here," Gear called running across the rubble before digging into the area. He slowly cleared some debris away. A black cloak came into view. "Phantom," Gear whispered gently shaking the teen's shoulder. The figure groaned before moving around.

"Gear?" Phantom whispered looking up around his hood. "My arm is stuck under a beam. I think it's broken."

"Hang on," Gear stated getting around the hybrid to check out the damage. "Oh man, V's dad is going to be so mad."

"It just needs set," Phantom whispered. "My healing will heal it fairly quickly; I just won't be able to change back for a while."

"Can I get someone over here?" Gear called out afraid to move the things around him too much without someone to be there. A paramedic ran up to them to see the young hybrid trapped under it. Static had gotten caught helping some other people out of the rubble even though none of them had wounds.

"Alright we need to get that off his arm," she informed helping Gear move it off of Phantom's arm. Phantom groaned and slowly moved so he could get in a better position.

"Don't move," the medic demanded. "How'd you end up the only one hurt in this mess?"

"I'm the one that made sure that everyone else was safe," Phantom muttered looking at her. "I refuse to let anyone die on my watch, no matter what the cost."

"You're crazy," she smiled slowly as she gently started to examine his arm. "Where does it hurt?"

"Currently, my back is killing me, but I'm pretty sure my arm is broken. It's happened enough times that I can actually say that I can't really feel it over the bruise forming," Phantom explained trying to shift while keeping his arm stable.

"Alright," she got her radio. "David, I have Phantom. He's hurt pretty bad. He thinks that his arm is broken. I need the gurney. His back might be injured as well."

_"Alright."_

"Hey, don't move around too much and disturb it," she reprimanded. Phantom just looked away while Gear looked around for Static.

"Yo, Static!" Gear called looking around. He didn't want to leave the young ghost, but Static seemed to be missing now. Suddenly another paramedic appeared with a gurney and a few more braces.

"Sally," he stated kneeling down. "What do we have?"

"He thinks his arm is broken and then his back is hurting. I don't know which one to look at first," she informed as she looked at him.

"Let's get his arm, and when we get in the ambulance we can look at his back," David stated as he started to grab for Phantom's arm. Phantom scooted away from him with a tremor going though his skinny body. Gear noticed that Phantom wasn't going to let them do their job. He kneeled down next to Phantom.

"Hang on," Gear stated stopping the medics from coming closer. They looked like they wanted to argue, but the pure fear in Phantom's eyes made them stop.

"Hey, Phantom, I'm here, and they won't hurt you," he whispered calmly hoping to keep Phantom distracted as the medics got their supplies ready. "We need to set your arm back so it can heal."

"I'm not letting him near me," Phantom mumbled as his foot caught a rock, and he pushed himself further away. Gear looked at the two.

"He...he'll only let her work, but he won't hurt anyone. He's just scared," Gear informed keeping an eye on Phantom. "He doesn't trust people much. It took a lot just for me and Static to get him to let us help him. But…he just been though a lot."

"Phantom," the female medic whispered slowly heading towards him. It wasn't the first time some kid would shy away from her partner. Even though he would never hurt anyone, abused children felt intimidated by his size and shape. "Can I see your arm?"

"I..." Phantom whispered holding his arm closer to him. He felt a sharp pain run up his arm reminding him about it being broken. He looked at Sally before slowly moving so she could examine it. A large purple bruise was forming in the middle of his lower arm.

"It looks like it might just be fractured, but we have to get you to the hospital…" Sally whispered. Phantom shook his head and tried to move away again. Gear walked up.

"Phantom, it's okay," he whispered looking for Static who was heading towards them with a worried frown.

"I'm not…no," Phantom whispered taking his arm away from her and wrapping his cloak around his body and trying to get up. Gear gently put his hands on the hybrid's shoulders and gently pushed him down.

"You're not going anywhere," Gear promised looking at the medic who started to protest. Static showed up seeing Phantom staring at the medics with fear in his eyes while Gear was trying to calm him down.

"What happened?" he asked hoping that nothing was wrong.

"Phantom's arm is broken," Gear informed looking at his friend. "He's scared of the medics."

"I…" Phantom started wanting to say something, but knew it was a lost cause. He couldn't deny that he was terrified right now. Static sighed.

"How badly?" he questioned looking at the medics. Sally sighed.

"Don't know, we need to get him to the hospital to figure that out," she informed noting that Phantom had backed farther away from her when she said that.

"That's one place he won't go into," Static stated watching the ghost carefully. "Gear, don't you have something that could possibly look at his arm like an X-ray?"

"No," Gear answered shaking his head as Phantom pushed against him hoping to get farther from the medics who had came slightly closer. Static looked at Phantom's panicked expression and got an idea.

"Phantom, do you trust me?" he asked kneeling in front of the hybrid. Phantom looked up at him with a slightly open mouth.

"I…I…" Phantom stuttered trying to gather his thoughts from the sudden damning question. _Did he trust them? _He let them in. He let them see some of the horrors, but that was just to help him get over it himself. He wasn't sure if he truly trusted them. They weren't going to hurt him, and he knew that. However, that paranoia and constant fear was still making itself known in his head.

"Do you trust me?" Static asked. "Do you trust me to protect you?" Phantom blinked at the change in the question. He did trust to protect him, but what was he trying to do now? He knew Static would protect him, but he still had this one streak that refused to let him truly trust anyone. Phantom sighed and looked down relaxing his muscles slightly.

"No," he whispered making Gear and the medics look at him. They couldn't believe that the ghost didn't trust someone that was obviously very close to him. Phantom looked away from them and to the side feeling like crap. After everything they had done to help him, and he couldn't even give them trust. Static seemed to have expected it though.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to trust me completely," Static whispered gently lifting the cloak on Phantom to see his arm being clutched tightly against his chest. The hybrid was looking away from him with tears in his eyes. "I was hoping you would trust me to at least protect you. No matter what happens, I'll be next to you. Will you let me protect you?"

"From what?" Phantom whispered wishing he could get away. He didn't want this; he just wanted to be fine and leave. Static cleared his throat grabbing Phantom's attention.

"We have to set your arm back. It's needs attention, but if I sedate you, it'll be easier to get it fixed," Static informed carefully making sure that he didn't upset Phantom. "You won't fight and risk getting others hurt, or hurting yourself. I'll protect you and make sure that no one does what they shouldn't. I won't let anything happen to you."

"No," Phantom whispered elbowing Gear in the stomach before standing up and trying to run. Static jumped up and put a shield in front of the hybrid. Phantom stopped before running into it and flinched.

"Phantom, you can't leave. Your arm is broken, and you need it set and put in something to help it heal better," Static explained. "Please, at least let me help."

"I don't trust you," Phantom whispered as though to convince himself, and Static wondered if somewhere deep down, Phantom really trusted him to a degree, but he was afraid to show it. He was afraid of being hurt again.

"Danny," Static whispered making sure that the others couldn't hear him. Gear kept the medics from getting any closer. "I know, but you have to now. We don't have the time to work on it. You're hurt, and it needs taken care of."

"I know," Phantom whispered closing his eyes wishing himself away. "I want to, but…"

"You're afraid," Static finished looking at the medics. "Do you have a mild sedative? One I can use?"

"Yeah," David informed handing him a small syringe that had the sedative in it. "Just gently insert it in his arm." Static nodded and turned back to Phantom who was trying to keep himself as close to the shield as he could without getting shocked. "He won't black out, but he'll relax and won't be able to walk around for a while." Static took in a deep breath and looked up at his friend who looked close to being a complete mess.

"What's going on?" Michael asked walking up seeing Phantom pinned against one of Static's shield.

"He broke his arm," Sally whispered as Phantom collapsed to the ground and scooted away from Static.

"Phantom, you need help, but you're freaking out," Static stated sitting down next to Phantom and making sure that the hybrid couldn't get out of the shield. He looked up before looking back at his friend. "I won't do anything unless you let me."

"I…the hospital….it…" Phantom muttered looking down at the ground. He moved his cloak and looked down at his arm. The pain made itself known as he took in a breath.

"I know," Static informed watching the hybrid. Tears spilled out of the teen's eyes, and Static knew that Phantom was still trying to find that trust again. Trust he had had lost to everyone close to him after all the betrayal and pain he had gone though. Slowly the hybrid held out his arm for Static.

"Don't leave me," Phantom asked looking up at him. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't," Static promised as he gently pushed the needle into Phantom's skin. The hybrid winced and tried to pull away slightly until Static grabbed his arm. "Don't move; you'll hurt yourself."

He pushed the contents into Phantom's blood stream, and he instantly felt the effects. Phantom looked down as his eyes drooped. Static let his shield fall as Sally came back up to them with a board and straps. She gently took his arm and straightened it out, placing it on the board and securing it down. Phantom felt fear bubble up, but he didn't have the energy to move. The sedative prevented him moving around too much.

"It's okay," Sally whispered as she worked. David got the gurney and wheeled it over. He went to lower it when Static picked up the young hybrid and set him on it. "You could've hurt yourself."

"He barely weighs a hundred pounds," Static stated looking at them. "He doesn't trust people, and it's shows."

"I'm not deaf, guys," Phantom slurred looking up at them with dazed eyes. His vision swam, but he could feel his body work on going though the sedative quickly. He wasn't sure if he should tell them that the sedative wasn't going to last or not. "I can…still hear…you."

"Yeah, but you're barely coherent," Static put in with a smile hoping to help ease the nervousness of Phantom. A small smile crossed Phantom's face. He still enjoyed a good joke to ease a tense situation. David and Sally moved the gurney back to the ambulance where a little girl was walking by. She looked up at Phantom and grinned brightly running up to him.

"Thank you for saving my mom," she stated holding his hand. "Thank you so much." Phantom blinked at her for a moment before smiling slightly at her.

"You're…welcome," he got out trying to keep his eyes open. He felt a slight pinch in his shoulder and looked up at Sally who had put something in his body. Panic rose in his mind as everything seemed to darken. Static watched her carefully confuse as to what she done.

"What was that?" he asked grabbing a fist full of Phantom's cloak unsure of what was going on. He didn't want Phantom any more out of it than he already was. Phantom didn't trust him enough for that yet.

"A pain killer," she answered as they got to the ambulance. Static pulled the gurney closer. The ambulance wasn't far from everyone else, but Static felt something was off. Something suddenly felt different.

"You didn't ask if I knew he was allergic to anything," Static stated and watched as Phantom's eyes opened slightly. The hybrid grabbed at Static's arm but horribly missed.

"I figured you wouldn't know," she countered as something flicker across her face. Gear suddenly showed up next to them and narrowed his eyes at the female medic. Even her partner was giving her strange looks.

"You still have to ask," David informed looking at her strangely. Phantom looked at her before grabbing her arm and sending energy though her arm. She screamed and collapsed as a green glow appeared around her. Phantom's grip on Static fell as he lost consciousness. Static looked at Gear before making sure that Phantom was still breathing. David kneeled next to his partner. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but Phantom seemed to have realized something," Gear stated looking at his friend. "We need to get him to the hospital and get him out. May be we can get him taken care of before he wakes back up."

"That would be best," Static stated. "I'm not leaving his side though."

"What did he do?" David demanded standing up and glaring at the heroes who seemed to not care about his partner.

"What did she do?" Gear questioned glaring right back. Static sighed.

"Stop it. Phantom passed out, and he knows something that we clearly didn't catch," Static yelled glaring at the two. "She's not hurt, but Phantom is. Can we please just get him to the hospital?"

"He just knocked my partner out," David stated lunging at the hybrid only to be stopped by Gear tackling him down. Static growled out before taking out his disk and levitating the gurney Phantom was on and heading towards the hospital. He kept it as stable as he could, but he wanted to get there as fast as he could.

"I promised I wasn't going to leave your side," Static stated as he landed in front of the hospital. He had no idea what Sally had injected into the teen's body, but he just hoped that it wouldn't hurt the ghost. They knew that the Guys in White were there, and he had to protect Phantom from them if they thought that they could get to him.

He landed as several nurses came running out. They quickly checked over the ghost as Static stood next to him.

"He's stable, but it seems that his arm is injured," one stated looking at Static for confirmation. Static nodded.

"Yeah, he thinks he broke it, but we ran into some trouble with the fact he's afraid of people. I gave him a mild sedative, but one of the paramedics put something else in him. I don't know what it was, but Phantom freaked and knocked her out," Static explained. A few of the nurses seemed to back away. "He won't hurt you, but she did something that she wasn't supposed to. Something else was wrong, but he's my main concern right now."

"Alright, so he has something in his system that we don't know what it is, and he can be violent," one stated looking at the hybrid worriedly.

"He'll listen to me, but if you guys want, you can keep him unconscious until he's okay enough for me to take him back home," Static stated hoping that it would better if Phantom just didn't even wake up in the hospital.

"We have to ask him certain questions about his arm and make sure that it's not going to cause him pain if it is broken," a nurse stated as they rushed him inside and towards the examination room. Static followed.

"If I'm with him, I can calm him down enough so he won't do anything really extreme," Static explained as they undid several things and moved him to a bed. Static looked around and noted that everything had a blue tinge to it, and he was kind of glad that it wasn't just white. That would probably send Phantom into complete panic.

"His lower arm is almost completely purple," the nurse stated as she gently placed her hands on it feeling for any breaks. She hoped that maybe it was just fractured.

"Oh, he said something about his back bothering him, but he did have a building collapse on top of him," Static informed remembering that bit. "His arm was more important because it wasn't stabilized."

"Alright," the lead nurse stated. She unclipped the cloak from around Phantom's neck and gently pulled it out from under him with the help of the others. She folded it and handed it another nurse who gave it to Static. Static smiled and held on it. He knew that Phantom used it as a blanket to keep himself from freaking out half the time.

"Let's get his arm straighten out and then we'll look at his back," she ordered as they got ready to move him to the X-Ray room. Static followed until they got to the door. "You can't come in while we did this."

"I promised him I wouldn't leave him alone. After what happened back at the bank, I don't plan on breaking it," Static stated grabbing the bed and not letting go. "I'm sorry, but after everything I worked for to get him to trust me; I'm not breaking that promise."

"Alright, but you have to stay with us," a nurse informed as they entered. Static nodded. They entered the room where they laid the hybrid out on the table for the X-ray.

The room had wooden walls and was dark. The room to the side had white on the walls, but the glass was also slightly darker. Static followed the two nurses to the side room while the one operated the machine. Static watched them as they worked. They got the pictures they needed, but when they went to go ahead and X-ray his back, he moved. Static looked at them before heading into the room.

"Crap," the nurse next to Phantom whispered as she backed away. Static walked up next to the hybrid.

"Phantom," he muttered gently shaking the teen's shoulder to grab his attention away from everything else. Green eyes opened to meet Static's. Phantom slowly placed his arms under him before pain screamed up his arm. He took a deep breath as everything came back to him. His eyes widen as he remembered being knocked out after destroying the spell on the medic.

He knew that the Guys in White had gotten more into using people, but that was insane and highly dangerous. They could have killed her without even knowing it.

"Where am I?" Phantom questioned looking around the room. When he looked up, panic grabbed at his heart and he jerked away from Static. Static kneeled down by him.

"You're somewhere safe," Static promised with a smile. "You can trust me. Right now we are trying to find out what exactly is wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong with me," Phantom muttered pushing away from Static. Static raised an eyebrow as a few more pieces were added to what might have happened to the ghost. Something in what he said hurt the young ghost. Static didn't mean it to hurt him, but to say that there was something wrong.

"Your arm is broken, and you hurt your back. We are trying to find out exactly how bad it is so we can help," Static explained gently making sure that Phantom would calm down. Phantom closed his eyes as a blue aura surrounded his body. Static backed up not knowing what was going on. The temperature in the room dropped so low that the nurses were afraid that it would hurt the equipment that was in there.

"What's going?" the nurse asked who was in the room with Static and Phantom.

"I'm not sure," Static whispered as Phantom's body tensed and contorted at an odd angle. Phantom's mouth opened in a silent scream. Just as suddenly as it appeared, the glow disappeared and Phantom's body relaxed. "Phantom?" Static called getting back up to his friend. Phantom groaned before pulling his arm to his chest and turning away from Static.

"Ow," he mumbled as he winced. The nurses all came out, but Static warned them to stay back for the moment.

"Phantom, what happened?" he asked concerned. Phantom looked over his shoulder.

"I don't know," he mumbled as he curled up. One of the nurses walked forward.

"We were going to X-ray your back to see if there was any bone damage. You really shouldn't move around like that just in case," she warned as she cautiously made her way forward towards him.

"It hurts," he whispered as he rolled back on his back. He flinched as pain rose across his body and up his spine. The nurse looked at Static who nodded.

"We can help, but we need you to lay perfectly still," she informed as she gently rested her hand on Phantom's shoulder. His muscles tensed as he stared up at her. "It will only take a moment. No one will hurt you."

"We need it moved so it's over his chest," the one nurse informed from the other room. They had all gone back in there once they realized that Phantom was okay. The nurse that was in there with Phantom held his hand tightly as she moved the device over his chest. He started breathing heavily as it got closer. "Static, you need to go back in here. We can't have you in here when it turns back on."

"No," Phantom mumbled looking at him. His eyes pleaded him not to walk away, and Static shook his head.

"I can't leave him. I promised him I would stay by his side the entire time," Static informed. "I can't break that." One of the nurses ran out of the room and handed him a vest.

"Here, just don't tell anyone we did this," she warned as she went back in once Static was buttoned up. Phantom relaxed slightly now that he knew the one person he trusted wasn't going to leave, but fear ripped back in his mind as remembered pain came to life.

He closed his eyes trying to rid himself of the images of those who he trusted and they took everything from him until there was nothing left. The ones who he had trusted with everything only to shove it all back in his face and torture him.

He gasped as his back arched slightly. The nurse held his hand tighter.

"Hang on a few more moments," the nurse whispered as she gently let the machine go and it go up. Phantom shivered as she smiled at him.

"Stop," he whispered pulling away from her. Static walked forward and put the cloak over Phantom's chest. The ghost instantly wrapped it around himself.

"Phantom, they're going to move you back to a room so they can figure things out," Static explained as he stood next to his friend. Phantom looked over his cloak.

"You're staying, right?" he asked and Static sent him an encouraging smile.

"I'm staying right next to you," Static promised as the nurses pulled the bed up next to the table. Phantom slowly moved to get up when Static gently pushed him down. "You don't need to move. You don't want to hurt your back more than it already is." Phantom tensed but stayed still on the table as everyone moved around him preparing to move him to his bed.

"I…I don't…" Phantom muttered as he looked at everyone around him. He didn't want them to move him. He wanted to leave, to get out of there. He wanted away from the hospital. Static pushed his chest down making him open his eyes. He didn't even realize that he was trying to sit up.

"Phantom, please, it's okay," Static promised as he pushed the ghost farther into the table. Phantom felt fear and betrayal grab at his heart. Panic filled his eyes, and Static just told him that it was going to be okay.

"Stop," Phantom whispered grabbing Static's arm and trying to push it away. Static looked up at one of nurses.

"Phantom, we have to move you back to your room," the hero explained. "Can we sedate you?"

"No," Phantom muttered as he tried to move away from them. Pain shot up his spine, but he continued to struggle. Static gently grabbed the hybrid's arms and pinned them to his sides.

"Stop it," Static ordered calmly. "You're going to hurt yourself farther if you don't stop struggling."

"Let me go," Phantom muttered terrified. He wasn't struggling as much now that Static had a hold of his broken arm. One of the nurses walked up with a sedative. Static shook his head at her.

"Not yet, he has to let us," Static explained.

"What if he doesn't?" she asked looking between the terrified teen and the hero.

"Phantom, you won't feel as scared as you are now," Static explained looking back at the hybrid. Phantom closed his eyes and shook his head. "I promise, no one is going to hurt you. We don't want you to hurt anyone or yourself."

"No," Phantom whispered wanting to use his powers, but he couldn't bring himself to. Static hadn't broken any of his promises. Phantom looked up into his friend's face to search for any signs of malicious. He didn't find any and relaxed slightly.

"Please," Static begged. "It'll take your pain away too." Phantom blinked and shifted slightly trying to get his arms out from under Static's grip. Static slowly removed his hands as Phantom closed his eyes. Static took that to motion for the nurse to go ahead and inject it into him.

"It's okay," the nurse whispered as she gently rubbed a spot on the teen's arm. Phantom tensed slightly when she touched him, but otherwise remained still. She carefully slipped the needle into his arm and injected the sedative into his system. The tension that was in his back relaxed and the pain did go down now that he was relaxed.

"Let's get him on the bed," Static whispered as the nurses gathered around him and grabbed the sheet that was under him. They heard the young teen groan as he was lifted and shifted onto the bed. Phantom shifted slightly on the bed as they started heading out of the room. Static stayed next him the entire time as they moved through the hallways.

"Nurse Hathaway," someone called running up to her. "I need to know about Jordon." One of the nurses pushing Phantom excused herself and headed away as Phantom closed his eyes feeling extremely drowsy.

"Hey, Phantom," Static whispered grabbing the teen's attention. They had made it back to a hospital room, and the hero was the only one in the room. "You okay?"

"I'm in a hospital," the hybrid muttered slowly. Static sighed as he moved Phantom's broken arm so it was stable. "What do you think?"

"Well, at least you still have a personality," Static quipped making Phantom want to throw something at him.

* * *

**Danny: And then this one...because we got nothing better to do...**

**Me: I'm in a parking lot...literally have nothing better to do...XD**

**Danny: Don't forget to check about Ice Lightening...**

**Me: I also would like to know how many of you who read both thought that I was discontinuing then since they are both being updated at the same time?**

**Danny: really...you are so weird.**

**Me: not my problem...**

**Danny: Wait...that made no sense...what?**

**Me: Danny, don't look into it.**


	7. Recovery

Ice Lightening

Chapter Six

Recovery

_"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains two descriptions: might have, and should have."_

_~Louis E. Boone~_

* * *

Phantom groaned as he opened his eyes. Static was sleeping in a chair next to his bed, and he was glad that the hero kept his promise to stay next to him. The hybrid let a small smile come across his face. His arm was in a sling and he felt metal wrapped around his back. Panic torn though his mind as the worse case scenario went through his mind. An alarm went off when his heart sped up. Static woke up and looked at him.

"Hey, calm down," he stated as he leaned forward and put his hand on the teen's shoulder. "You knocked your back around pretty badly. They needed to support it for a day. Luckily I don't have school this weekend. I can stay here with you. Gear said he'll take care of things until you get better."

"How long have I been out?" Phantom asked surprised as the rasp in his voice.

"A few hours," Static answered leaning back against his chair. "You're really boring when your asleep."

"I think that applies to everyone," Phantom muttered trying to move around. Static smiled.

"I wouldn't move too much. They wanted to do surgery, but I told them that I wouldn't allow it. If you heal as fast as your arm did, then a couple days bed rest should help," Static stated. Phantom tensed.

"No, they didn't…" he whispered looking at Static.

"They never took off your shirt," Static promised. "I made sure they didn't. They wanted to see the bruise, but I told them that they should wait until you woke up to tell them. They weren't happy."

"Thanks," Phantom whispered looking down. The brace was slowly becoming more annoying as time went on. "This is…uncomfortable."

"Probably," Static muttered. "But you're the one who let the bank collapse on top of you."

"I didn't let anything happen," Phantom muttered. "I had to, otherwise that girl's mom would have died. I can't be in two places at one time."

"How'd you pull that off?" Static asked getting a sly grin from Phantom.

"You really don't want to know," he grinned letting it remain a mystery. Static shook his head.

"The food here sucks," Static stated. "I had Gear go and get some better food."

"Awesome," Phantom smiled slightly as he played with his cloak. It was just laying across him like a blanket. He shifted slightly making the brace slide a little and make him even more uncomfortable. He groaned. "Okay, I hate this thing."

"I find it amusing," Static stated as he rested his feet on the side of the bed. Phantom couldn't move around enough to push it off.

"You're not the one in it," Phantom muttered under his breath as he shifted slightly again. Static smiled slightly at the annoyed expression on Phantom's face.

"They said that you only need to be in it for a few hours. They seen how quickly your arm was healing," Static informed. "They think that all bang babies have a quick healing process. They said that they had never seen any of them heal as fast as you."

"I'm an oddball," Phantom shrugged. Gear suddenly slid into the room.

"I brought pizza," he grinned like a nutcase as he set the box on the bedside tray. Phantom smiled slightly as he tried to sit up. A doctor walked in.

"Ah, Phantom, you're up. That's a good sigh," he stated as he looked over the hybrid's file. "The paramedic said that she doesn't remember injecting anything into you, but we figure out that it was a serious painkiller, and had you not done what you did, it would have overdosed you."

"How is she?" Phantom asked quietly looking past the doctor and towards the door.

"She's fine, but doesn't remember anything," the doctor answered looking up at Phantom. "I would like to look at your back. The bruise would be able to tell me more about the injury, and Static wouldn't let us without your permission."

"No," Phantom shook his head and the doctor looked at Static hoping he could convince the ghost.

"What exactly would the bruise tell you?" Static asked and Phantom gave him a pain filled look.

"How bad the injury is and how big the area that it takes up. If it's not that bad, then we can wrap it and send you guys on your way," Doctor informed looking at Phantom knowing that the ghost wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Static looked at Phantom wondering if the ghost was going to go ahead and let them just so he could get out of there. Phantom looked tempted, but he was still distrustful.

"You realize that I've already seen your back," Static stated looking at his friend. "Believe me, I highly doubt they'll say anything about it." Phantom still shook his head. The doctor sighed wondering what the problem was. "They'll only see your back. They don't need to see that."

"I…I…no," Phantom whispered wanting nothing more than to curl up. The brace prevented him from being able to move around much. He wrapped his arms around his chest, but the brace was still in the way of that movement giving him comfort.

"Phantom, please. I only want to help," the doctor stated. He wanted the hybrid to be okay so he could leave. Most of the nurses were nervous with him in here since he shocked the paramedic. "We need to get a look at it so we know what is wrong. Once that's done we might be able it wrap it and let you go."

"Come on, Phantom," Gear smiled. "Then we won't have to be in here anymore." Phantom looked down at his hands that had started shaking. He looked back at Static who smiled encouragingly at him.

"No one will say anything or do anything to hurt you," he promised. Phantom sighed knowing that the quickest way to get away would be to just let them look at his back.

"Fine," he whispered feeling nervous. The doctor smiled and motioned for the two nurses to come inside to help him get the brace off. Phantom leaned forward but refused to let the doctor touch him.

"Phantom, you have to remain still. Otherwise you could make it worse," the doctor warned. Static gently pushed the doctor's hand back away from him.

"He's been abused," Static whispered. "That's why he's like that. The nurses can get away with touching him like that." The doctor looked at the hybrid who had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily in fear. He nodded and gently tapped one of the nurses was undoing a bolt to the brace.

"I need you to gently run your finger over his spine and make sure that nothing feels off. Don't push too hard though because we don't how big the bruise is," the doctor stated as he started taking the brace off. The nurse did as she was told making Phantom flinch a little, but he didn't shy away like he had done with the doctor. Gear sat back grinning at Phantom hoping to help him relax.

"I don't feel anything off or broken," she informed as she picked up the back of the brace and set it aside. The doctor nodded.

"Alright, Phantom can you take off your shirt. They'll help when you need it," the doctor informed deciding it would be best to let the young teen do this himself. Phantom slowly took his shirt off. He pulled the cloak up to hide his chest, but the scars that wrapped around his body were still visible. The nurses kept their surprise silent, but Gear's gasp was heard. Phantom looked away and closed his eyes wishing he was somewhere else when he felt fingers gently run over the bruise.

"Phantom," Static whispered gently putting his hand on the teen's shoulder. The doctor had finished and deemed that they should wrap it and let him go. "You okay?"

"No," he whispered as he shifted his position. "Don't have much a choice though."

"We can help you wrap it," Static whispered. "The doctor wanted to, but you didn't answer."

"What?" Danny whispered looking up at him. Static held up some wraps, and Gear seemed to loosen himself out and slowly walked forward after closing the blinds.

"Sit up," Static ordered as he started unwrapping the bandaging. Phantom slowly sat up as Static held the end to Phantom's front. Gear was behind him by Static's order and they started wrapping him up tightly enough for support, but not enough so he couldn't breathe. When they were done Phantom slipped his top back on and stood up. He stumbled before Static caught his should and helped him steady himself.

"Dude, are you okay?" Gear asked wondering if he would tell them how he got those scars. Not to mention why he was so protective of his chest. Even Static had seemed more protective of him. It wasn't like his friend to be that serious when things were going well. There was something that was between just those two.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Phantom mumbled shaky. He looked at the ground wanting nothing more than to run out of the hospital. Static kept him grounded though as they walked though the building towards the front entrance.

"Well, Doc said to take it easy and not to push yourself. He also did a check for a few things since you were really thin," Static informed as they walked down the hall. "He said that nothing was wrong, but he's also double checking." Phantom nodded letting Static led him out into the open. Reporters suddenly swarmed around the three. Static and Gear both stood in front of Phantom as a protective wall as people began throwing questions out at them.

"Are you not working with Static and Gear?"

"What are your powers?"

"Are you staying in Dakota?"

"STOP IT," Phantom shouted covering his eyes as the questions became too much. Static shook his head as Phantom vanished into thin air.

"He's not a people person," Static explained. Questions were then shot at him. "Listen, you just need to know that I'm helping him, and in order to do that, you guys have to back off. You're going to hurt more than he already it," Static growled out as he got out his disk and flew out of there. Gear was right on his heels not wanting to be left with the evil media.

They arrived at the Gas Station moments later. Phantom collapsed on the bean bag chair and closed his eyes. He felt safe there for some odd reason. It may have been because Static and Gear ran their hero business out of it and it hasn't been discovered yet.

"You okay, Dude?" Gear asked as the hybrid curled his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Phantom looked up at him and gave a faint smile.

"I'm fine just a little freaked," Phantom answered as Static walked into the room.

"I just talked to my dad. He wants to see you," Static informed looking at Phantom. "He wants us to meet him on the roof of the center." Phantom sighed and buried his face in his arms.

"We just got here," Phantom complained. "You couldn't wait for like twenty minutes before making me have to get up again." Gear and Static looked at each other and grinned.

"Come on, you can rest there," Static smiled holding out his hand to help Phantom stand up. Phantom looked at it before sighing and grabbing his hand and standing up. "He wants to make sure that you're okay." Phantom nodded before gently floating above the floor. Suddenly he landed on the ground barely able to breathe.

"I don't think I'll be able to fly," Phantom whispered realizing how low his powers were. Static looked at him before opening his disk up.

"You can fly with me, but we have to go," Static stated as they walked outside. He jumped on and helped Phantom balanced himself on the back before taking off. Gear following not far behind making sure that Phantom didn't fall off.

They landed on the roof where Robert was standing. He looked worried at Phantom who backed away from Static as soon as he landed. Static closed his disk and looked at his dad.

"Danny, how are you feeling?" Robert asked wanting to know what completely happened. He knew Phantom helped out at the bank, and that it exploded, but he was hoping that Phantom would stay out of the news for a few weeks.

"Like crap," Phantom mumbled looking at the ground. Robert walked up to him and studied him. He could see the wraps around his body. His stance told him that the teen was in pain, but Phantom just seemed overly tired.

"You don't look much better," Gear joked trying to get him to smile. Phantom slapped him with a small smile on his face. Static shook his head and looked at his dad.

"He's in more pain than he lets on," Static whispered while Gear started making more jokes about Phantom. Phantom joking along with him.

"I know, I can see that," Robert whispered. "Did he get any pain reliever?"

"The doctors gave him some, but they didn't prescribe him any. They didn't have an adult to look out for him," Static explained. Robert looked at the teen who was slightly hunched over.

"Danny, come here," Robert asked and Phantom slowly walked over to the man. He checked over the teen before gently resting his hands on the ghost's shoulder. "I need to know the truth, and I don't want you to lie or give any half truths. I want the full truth." Phantom nodded while his body slowly shook. Robert watched him carefully waiting for a verbal response. "Promise me."

"I…I promise," Phantom whispered when Robert gave a light squeeze. Robert gave him a smile.

"Are you in pain?" Robert asked knowing that this question usually got a lie from the hybrid. Phantom straightened up and looked at the man who had taken him in.

"Yes," Phantom whispered shying away, but the hold on his shoulders prevented him from moving away. It was tight, but not painful. Robert watched the teen carefully.

"How bad is it?" Robert asked knowing that Phantom was uncomfortable. Phantom flinched slightly and he could feel the teen's fear now. Phantom shook his head. "Danny, I need to know."

"Really bad," he whispered, and Robert nodded gently pulling the teen forward into a hug. Phantom shifted before hugging him back. "Virgil, Sharon is at work. Take him home, there should be some pain killers in the cupboard. Make sure he takes some, get something to eat, and just stay there. I'll see what Sharon plans tonight, and maybe try to give you guys the house for tonight, but if he's struck like this until his back is fairly healed enough, then we'll have to come up with a plan."

"Alright," Static whispered knowing that Phantom needed to rest now. No matter what. Phantom just listened to them. He didn't want to put in that they were talking about him while he was there. They weren't just leaving him; they doing everything in their power to help him. He didn't have the heart to tell them the lies that he had hid behind for so long. Even before.

He wanted them to know; he wanted them to know the pain that he was in every day. They weren't going to let him go either until they knew.

They were like his friends before everything. Before Sam had left for the summer, before Tucker had been kidnapped by the fruitloop, before his parents started actually killing and destroying ghost in front of him. Before his sister disappeared.

* * *

**_Amity Park_**

_Danny walked into the park with a smile. Sam was returning today, and he couldn't wait. Mainly because he felt something big was going to happen. He had been having few issues with other ghosts and felt like he was being followed. His parents were suddenly deadly. Ever since Jazz went missing. They blamed Phantom of course. The last place she was seen was the last fight Phantom was in. Danny didn't remember even seeing her there and figured they just needed someone to blame._

_It had been hard since Jazz went missing, but she had been gone for almost two months now. He was worried because she was never like this. She always called, and he waited for the call from Vlad or someone calling him out as Phantom. Nothing, and he knew something bad was going to happen. He needed his friends so they could plan. He was tempted even to ask if Vlad knew anything._

_He may have hated the man, but he also knew that Vlad didn't want anything to happen to his family, and that's when his worry started. Vlad had plans for his mother and him, but nothing about Jazz. He didn't think Vlad would hurt her though. She was almost ready for college and getting ready to go out into the real world. She had plans and a future. Danny urged her to chase her dream since he lost his._

_But he gained new ones that he held close to him, and only she knew about them. At least that's what he thought._

_Sam arrived looking annoyed like usual, but it was odd seeing her so mellowed out. Normally after something like that he would get an earful about how her parents never liked anything she did, and that her cousins were screwing around with these two people or were in the wrong crowd. He even heard about the Big Bang from her after Christmas. It was odd because she told him about other kids with all sorts of powers. He was interested and asked if he could tag along next time. _

_That was before Jazz vanished._

_Now, he only had her stories. As they walked into the school together for the first day, he felt like the world could be mended again. Even without his sister being there, he could move on with his friends, and if his parents would take a break, them as well._

_Lancer seemed off though, and as the year went on farther, Sam and Tucker both seemed off. It was like they were interested in what he was doing every day, and then like they could care less if he lived or died. It was like they were more interested in how he beat his enemy. He stopped going to them for medical assistance when all they seemed to care about was the fight itself. _

_Suddenly he realized that he hadn't really fought Vlad or the Guys in White in a while. It was like they had fallen back. It was strange, and it made him even more on edge. He had just gotten rid of the Box Ghost for the billionzth time. He was tempted to just bury the thermos in the ground and leave him there._

_He walked into his house seeing his mother crying at the table. He slowly walked over to her afraid she would snap at him. It wouldn't be the first time. He hid the bruises from both of them. _

_"Mom, are you okay?" Danny asked keeping a distance even if his core was telling him to hug her and tell her everything was okay when it wasn't. She just looked up at him angrily._

_"My daughter is missing and you ask if I'm okay?" she growled out and stood up. He backed up._

_"My sister is missing," he whispered looking at her. "I just miss her. I don't want to lose you too." Tears were forming in his eyes no matter how much it hurt. Suddenly Jack marched down the stairs with a suitcase before disappearing out the door. Maddie just screamed._

_"You damned bastard," she yelled before slamming the door. Danny flinched feeling his family fall apart. "It's your fault!" Danny wanted to ask what happened when Maddie grabbed his arm and pinned him against the wall._

_"Mo…mom?" Danny stuttered as fear rose in his chest. His core was suddenly hiding and he couldn't feel his powers anymore. The only people who could even get them to act like that were his family and friends. Those he cared for._

_"And you," she growled out low and Danny could smell the alcohol on her breath. "You should have known how to do your work without your sister's help. You should have been smarter!" She pushed him farther into the wall and slammed her fist into his gut before turning and heading upstairs. Danny just curled against the wall not understanding what had happened. Everything seemed to finally settle down after Jazz vanished, but now everything was being thrown everywhere. His parents hated each other, and he lost the one person who could understand it._

_It was a week later when he was walking into the school that Lancer had asked him if he could stay after class. He had gone with it not knowing what to do anymore. He wanted someone he could trust like his sister. Like his friends before the summer. He didn't feel the same about them anymore and was afraid he was losing them._

_"Daniel," Lancer whispered looking around and closing the door before leaning against his desk. "You okay? You seem off. Well, more so than usual." Danny was about to say what he normally did. To tell the man that everything was fine. Before he knew he was crying and felt like the entire world was falling around him. Lancer paused when Danny broke down. "Daniel. Danny, it's okay. You can tell me anything."_

_"My sister is gone, and my life is falling apart," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around him. The dam was broken. He couldn't stop now. "My parents separated, and I think they hate me. They blame me for Jazz being gone…" Lancer only gently rubbed the teen's back unsure of what he could do. Danny was hurting, and he probably was still hiding something. It couldn't just be this._

_"Have you talked to your parents?" Lancer asked kneeling in front of the teen. Danny looked up before lifting his shirt. Lancer went to stop him when the bruises were shown. Lancer held back a gasp not believing that the Fentons would have done such a thing to their own child. Lancer reached into his pocket and called his bubby from the police station. They needed to know. Danny needed saved._

_Danny only sat there waiting. He was the hero, and he understood how the world should work. He had helped people from abusive homes before, and as much as it would hurt to tell them that he was also a victim, he refused to let his model fall. He didn't have to put up with it, and Phantom had done enough to show that. Fenton could now help in Phantom's fight._

_Even though it ended in a lab with him on a table staring at his sister's face as she held the clipboard in her hand. The glint in her eye as she prepared the next experiment. As she asked the scientist to do ahead and do the cut. She wouldn't watch her brother be dissected alive. She had done enough, and she knew she would screw it up if she stayed._

_Danny just let them. His spirit broken now that everything he thought he knew was gone. His friends and family were people he could no longer trust. He was alone now._

* * *

**Amity Park Airport 2300 Hours**

"Flight 023 to Dakota at gate 3. Now calling…" Lancer drowned out the rest as he headed towards the gate. Everything felt blank. He had the teen so close to being free before the lab. He had been able to almost save the teen from being taken in that trap. Danny had been distracted and distance with everyone. He had been wary of letting anyone near.

Lancer sighed as he walked to his seat. His bubby had a case to help the teen. Danny had given him everything he needed for a case against Maddie Fenton. Until he lost his job, his family to an accident. His life was destroyed. Lancer felt horrible, but he had no idea that those people had such connections. He did his job to protect his student, and he was denied that right. Danny was still in that home being abused for another week before he too vanished into thin air.

No one seemed to notice or even care. He was never reported, and when Lancer tried, the police said they would talk to the family, but nothing ever came up. It was a cover up, and Lancer felt sick. He had helped this kid though so much, and now he was missing. Lancer knew where to look.

When the plane took off, Lancer stared out the window. It was the last he planned on ever being in this place. The place was full of nothing but torture and pain. It could not be saved.

* * *

**Hawkins Home 1700 Hours**

Danny was laying on the couch watching the game Virgil and Richie played. Virgil had his tongue handing out of his mouth as he tried to beat Richie was winning so far. Danny was just sitting there. After he had taken the pain killer, he was able to change back into his human form. The two had been playing the game since they had gotten settled. He tensed when the door opened, but relaxed when Robert walked.

"Hey, Pops," Virgil greeted like nothing had happened before. Danny waved at him tiredly.

"How are you feeling, Danny?" Robert asked looking the teen over to make sure nothing changed. Danny just curled his legs up to his chest.

"I'm fine," he smiled slightly. Robert raised his eyebrows. Danny just sighed knowing that 'I'm fine' would no longer be a viable answer anymore. "I don't hurt as much as I did earlier."

"Better," Robert smiled as he walked around the couch and sat next to Danny to see what the two were playing. "You two, there's pizza and pop in the car. You can go get it when you find a stopping point."

Suddenly the game was paused and the two were already outside. Danny just laughed a little careful not to jostle his back around too much. He relaxed himself so he sat on the couch correctly while leaning against the arm. Robert just looked him up and down.

"When is the last time you took some pain killers?" Robert asked knowing that the kid was probably still in some pain.

"About an hour ago when Virgil slapped Richie and unplugged the TV," Danny informed as he looked at Robert. "The game went with it and they lost their place. Figured it was a good time to take a break. Virgil practically shoved them down my throat."

"Good," Robert smiled as he changed it to the news. It was the story about the bank and Phantom being there. Danny shifted as a reporter appeared.

_"It's been said that there is a new teen working with Dakota's heroes. His name is Phantom and had worked in another town named Amity Park. The city was known for the ghosts haunting the city, but now it's been a battle ground since Phantom had mysteriously vanished. The town had been divided, and violence had broken out over it…" _

Danny reached over and turned it off. Robert looked at him as the teen put his hands to his ears to drown out the sounds. Robert leaned forward and gently put his hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Danny," Robert whispered watching as the teen shook. Virgil and Richie came in joking about something as they entered the kitchen paying no mind to the two. "Hey, it's okay. What is it?"

"No," Danny whispered.

* * *

_"Jazz?" Phantom whispered looking up at his sister. He didn't understand, but her smile showed everything. She picked up a remote._

_"Tell me, Danny. How does this make you feel?" she asked as the button sent electric though his body. Pain exploded as darkness surrounded him. The sound of his sister's laugh filled his ears, and all he wished was for everything to stop. He wanted to die._

* * *

**Danny: Very dark this time.**

**Me: Extremely...this one I started crying while I was writing...I had to stop because of it...**

**Danny: Extremely sad...also don't forget to review...she needs them to keep her alive...**

**Me: Yeah...Danny, you are being weird.**

**Danny: I know, but seriously. She updates both stories at the same time and she gets half the reviews she normally gets...how'd that happened?**

**Me: I was wondering that as well? Readers? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?**

**Danny: She's bottling things up?**


	8. Falling Apart

Ice Lightening

Chapter Seven

Falling Apart

_"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."_

_~William James~_

* * *

Robert smiled as he walked down the stairs in the morning to see Danny asleep on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him. He looked peaceful, and he was glad that the teen was okay. Sharon walked down the stairs to see Robert looking at the teen worriedly.

"He's hiding something," she stated as she looked down at the teen as well.

"I know what it is," Robert whispered. "He was abused, Sharon. You have to be patience with him. He wasn't raise with an abusive family. They turned that way after a while."

"He actually talked to you?" Sharon asked knowing that her father was good at helping kids but didn't realize that he had already gotten to the teen here.

"He was raised with a kind and loving family, but something changed. He doesn't understand it entirely either, but he's trying to make the best of it," Robert whispered as he observed the young teen on his couch. "He did what a lot of kids are afraid to do. He told someone."

"Why is he here then?" Sharon asked confused. The police would have been told then. He would have been taken away and given to either a family member or to a new home.

"I can't tell you that," Robert whispered looking at her. "He trusted me that that information. I just want you to know a bit of what he had gone though. Don't try to trick it out of him. He doesn't need that right now. His family and friends all hurt him and betrayed him. Him trusting us as it is was a big step in his own recovery."

"Fine," Sharon muttered not liking that she was being kept out of the loop.

"Virgil won't tell you either. Don't worry about it," Robert smiled as he headed into the kitchen. "Is Virgil up?"

"Yeah, I had to pull him out of bed, but he is," Sharon informed as she got out a couple pans. "What about Danny? Are you trusting him to stay here by himself?"

"He's a good kid," Robert whispered. "But I will be taking him to the center. I got him to trust me, Virgil, and Richie, but around strangers. He's even worse. He closes himself off. Hopefully being around kids who have had a hard time will help him even himself out. I can't help him get into a school until we figure out a few things."

"Things I'm not allowed to know," Sharon muttered still not liking the fact that she was out of the loop. She could only guess that Danny ran away from an abusive home, but she couldn't figure where he had came from or anything. Robert looked at her.

"I'm sorry, but Danny doesn't want you to know. It's has to deal with trusting. The person who hurt him the most was his own sister," Robert warned, and Sharon felt sick suddenly.

"He had a sister?" she whispered looking at him.

"She was everything to me," Danny whispered walking in. He had heard most of the conversation. "I trusted her with most of my secrets. She turned around…people who never should have known knew because of her. Everything that I fought for was compromised. She destroyed my life with almost a single sentence." Sharon only looked down understanding his reasons for not trusting her. Danny looked at Robert hoping for a little bit of help in this. He only gave him an encouraging smile. It would be easier if she also knew about Phantom, but if she figured that out, she would know Virgil's and Richie's as well. They would have to wait on that since they weren't ready to tell her just yet.

"I'm sorry," Sharon whispered as she hugged the teen. Danny stiffened. "But not all sisters are evil."

"Thanks," Danny whispered as he awkwardly hugged her back while glaring at Robert. Robert just smiled glad that it got Danny to open up a little more to her. At least it was a start. Sharon pulled away and headed out to go figure out what was taking Virgil so long. "Why'd you tell her that?"

"She needed to know what you were coming from," Robert explained. "I didn't want her to say something that would send you away or set something off. She works with kids as well to help them pass things like that. She would know what not to bring it up."

"To protect me," Danny whispered looking at the ground. Robert smiled.

"Yes," he whispered as he set a plate in front of the teen. "I'll make you some breakfast." Danny nodded when Virgil came racing inside with a giant grin and a yell from upstairs. Danny couldn't stop the smile from coming onto his face.

"Sharon wanted the bathroom," Virgil smiled as Sharon stormed into the kitchen.

"You blew up the bathroom," Sharon screamed wanting to beat her brother. Danny held back a laugh as she stalked forward. Robert sighed.

"Knock it off," Robert ordered making them both sit down at the table. He pulled out some pancake batter and started making some pancakes. Sharon got up and peeked over his shoulder.

"Uh, Dad?" she whispered knowing that he could barely cook. Robert looked back at her with a smile.

"Yes dear," he responded.

"Are you sure you got this?" Sharon asked wondering why her father suddenly decided to try to cook in the first place.

"I can cook breakfast," Robert defended with a smile.

"They're burning," Sharon whispered making Robert sigh again. They heard Danny and Virgil laugh.

"Virgil, you have to check this out," Richie exclaimed running into their house suddenly making them have to take a few short breaths just to realize that it was just him. Sharon glared at him.

"Don't you ever knock?" Sharon growled out at him while pointing the spatula at him, and Danny just stared at his plate as a pain flared up in his back. He wanted to laugh, but he guessed that the pain medicine he had taken was starting to wear off even more, and his ghost form couldn't push it back anymore.

"No," Richie answered as he pulled out a couple tickets. "My dad got us tickets for the concert Friday. How cool is that?"

"There's only two, what about Danny?" Virgil pointed out looking at Danny who was just playing around with his plate. He looked up when he heard his name. Richie seemed to realize this. Danny just looked at the floor.

"Well, we don't have to go," Richie stated looking at Danny. Sharon just rolled her eyes knowing that getting Danny to go to a concert would be something if what her dad said was true. Like Danny would be willing to go to a place where a bunch people would be at. "We could just do something else."

"You guys can go," Danny whispered looking at them. "I don't care." Robert gave a sigh and walked over to them while Sharon took over making breakfast. Robert looked at Danny carefully before pulling out a couple pain killers and handing them to Danny along with a cup of water. Danny looked up at him.

"You're in pain," he stated as he sat next to the teen. Richie sat down next to Virgil who was trying to figure out what they could do. They had plenty of time since it was Monday. Danny just took the meds without a word.

"Well, I would hate for them to go to waste," Virgil whispered looking at Danny knowing that he probably wouldn't even want to go because of how crowded it would be. Richie sighed not wanting to really miss out on the concert, but not wanting to exclude Danny either. Danny looked at them sadly.

"You guys can go. I don't really care," Danny urged as Robert put a hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny wondered why they were talking about this. He didn't even want to stay that long here. The longer he stayed somewhere, the more likely it was that they would find him. They already knew that he was in Dakota. He doubted he would be staying any longer.

"There's this thing Friday I would need help in anyway. I can take Danny with me," Robert stated knowing that they probably would be spending most of their free time with the teen. Virgil and Richie looked at each other before Richie looked at his watch.

"Well, we have time to think about it. For now we have to go to school. Let's go, V," Richie informed pulling Virgil up while he had a pancake in his hand. They waved before exiting the door. Sharon sighed as she sat down where Richie had been.

"Those two drive me nuts, but I don't remember anything going on Friday," Sharon stated looking at her father.

"Danny won't go to the concert anyway," Robert stated. "Besides, they have the tickets may as well use them." Danny just smiled a little as he played with the pancakes on his plate. Sharon just sighed before eating hers as well. They ate in silence until Sharon got up to get ready for work.

"I'm going with you, aren't I?" Danny asked looking at Robert. The father smiled.

"Yeah, I want to keep an eye on you. I know you won't do anything, and that's the problem," Robert stated seeing Danny flinch. "You won't do anything about the pain in your back." Danny just smiled a little knowing that he probably would just sit there and do nothing. It felt nice to know that he at least trusted him not to do anything too stupid. It had been a long time since anyone believed that.

"Alright," Danny whispered as he finished the pancakes. He was glad that he finally was able to keep himself constantly full and not have to worry about food. He could feel his energy getting more and more along with the weight it was putting on. He didn't feel so hollow anymore. Robert smiled as he stood up and put some papers in his bag.

"During lunch I'll take you to the mall so you can get some of your own clothes," Robert informed as he put some things in his briefcase. Danny stood up and started doing the dishes. Robert went to say that it was actually Virgil's turn, but decided that they could change it up so Danny could be added in. He didn't complain about it. It was actually kind of nice. Virgil could do them later. He went to change into his own clothes and get ready.

"Danny?" Sharon asked walking into the kitchen to grab her purse and bag before heading off. Danny turned to look at her. "Are you okay? You don't look well." Danny smiled slightly before looking at the floor.

"I'm fine, just a little sore," he answered with a smile. Sharon looked him up and down.

"What'd you do to your back?" she asked making Danny tense. Danny shook his head before turning his back to her. She walked forward and gently placed her hand on his bruise. His entire posture became defensive, and before she could blink, he had her against the counter with her arms pinned behind her back.

"Do not touch me," Danny hissed. Anger in his eyes, but she could see past that. He was protecting himself. He was scared, and suddenly she wondered exactly what his sister had done to him. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to leave himself open for other people to hurt him even further. Robert entered and seen Danny pinning his daughter against the counter.

"Daniel," Robert demanded making Danny snap back to the present. He quickly let her go before reeling backwards until he hit the wall on the other side of the room. Robert stayed by the door to make sure that Danny didn't run out. He wanted to go protect his daughter, but he didn't want the hybrid running out. They would never find him again, and he thought that Danny wouldn't hurt anyone. He wasn't going to take the chance for Danny to hurt anyone else if something were to happen. Besides, now the teen looked completely petrified. "Sharon, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered looking at Danny slightly afraid. He fought back, and that could be really dangerous. He was also very good at and a well trained fighter. Danny pressed himself against the wall and slowly slid down while curling his knees to his chest and burying his face into them. "Is he though? I don't think you should taking him to the center like that. He could hurt the other kids if something were to happen." Robert looked at the teen that he was sure was crying now.

"I just need to talk to him. Go to work, and I'll get him to open up a little more," Robert stated moving so she could leave. She nodded and grabbed her bag before hurrying out. Robert slowly walked towards Danny while making sure the hybrid couldn't just get up and run away.

"Danny," he whispered kneeling in front of the hybrid. "What happened? Why did you pin my daughter against the counter?" he added with a hint of anger making Danny flinch.

"It hurt," he whispered not looking up. Robert looked at him questioningly.

"What hurt?" Robert asked hoping to avoid whatever it is that set Danny off like that. He knew that the kid could be violent if he was provoked. He wondered what it was that Sharon had said or done that may have provoked him. If it was an accident, then he could work on helping Danny get over that.

"My back," Danny whispered curling tighter ignoring the pain that it caused in his back to be in that position. He was scared that Robert was going to be mad about him hurting his daughter and that he was going to be in trouble. He didn't know what he was going to do since he let them in. He didn't think he could handle any more people hating him and going against him now. He let them in, and it hurt to know that he may have just destroyed everything.

"Why did you pin Sharon against the counter?" Robert asked as calmly as he could. He wanted to tell the hybrid to get out, to leave for hurting her, but the way Danny was acting told him that he would destroy everything that the hybrid left to fight for. The teen didn't mean to act that way, but after everything he had been though, it was in his nature to protect himself if he felt threatened. Danny shied away from him. Robert grabbed his arms as he calmed himself down slightly. "Daniel, I need to know what happened so it doesn't happen again."

"She touched my back," Danny whispered slowly shifting his position and looking to the side and away from Robert. "It hurt." Robert sighed and let go of his grip on the teen's arms.

"That's no reason to attack her," Robert reprimanded. Danny flinched again and tried to scoot farther from Robert. "She was worried about you, and wanted you to tell her what was wrong. She wasn't going to hurt you."

"She did when she touched me," Danny whispered trying to defend himself. Trying to do anything that help. Robert looked up when he heard the door open. Sharon walked in.

"I left my phone," she whispered grabbing it off the table. "Danny, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have done that. Dad, it wasn't his fault. I went up to him and tried to see what was wrong with his back." Robert nodded before standing up.

"Maybe you can get him up," Robert stated knowing that that part of Danny needed to open back up again. Sharon nodded knowing that she would end up late anyway. She kneeled down in front of Danny and pulled his arms away from his face. Danny looked up at her, and she seen the tear trails that had formed. If she ever met his sister, she was going to give her a piece of her mind, and the possibility of a black eye.

"Come on, Danny," she whispered as she pulled his head up. "I'm okay, and I should have known that you would be protective of people touching you. You're nervous around me already, and I should have known that you would do something like that. You were only trying to protect yourself, and I respect that."

"I'm sorry," Danny whispered looking at her. "I knew you were just trying to help. But…my sister had done something similar…only she had a knife in my back." Sharon gasped and Robert had grabbed her away from him.

"Okay maybe we should go. Sharon you're already going to be late," Robert stated suddenly understanding a bit more of what Danny was saying. His sister literally stabbed him in the back. It wasn't good for Sharon. He would have to keep them separated until Danny was better enough to be able to control his outbursts and flashbacks. "Danny, I know you have been though a lot, but we'll have to work on your control when others are around you."

"Are you still taking me to the center? Or to the nearest prison?" Danny asked in a downed voice. Robert felt sad for the hybrid, but he knew that the kid could be really dangerous if he stayed here. Only there was nowhere else for him. He couldn't bring himself to throw the kid back on the streets. It was literally the kid's last chance for redemption. He couldn't throw that away because the kid acted out once.

"We're still going to the center," Robert stated as he picked up his briefcase as Danny stood up. He avoided looking up. "I just won't let you hang out with the other teens like I had planned. You clearly can't handle that. I'll just let you in my office until I figure something out."

"Okay," Danny whispered knowing that he probably would freak at others being around him right now. It felt like his nerves were on a live wire and every little thing could set him off. Robert nodded before grabbing his phone and heading out. Danny followed him by a distance. As they got in the car, Robert could tell Danny was tense about being around him. Robert sighed and looked at the teen after they got in the car. Danny was pressed against the door and scooted as close as he could to it. He was trying to stay as far from Robert as he could.

It may have been his mistake, but it somehow hurt his trust that he had put into Robert. The father sighed as he started the car and pulled out. Every time he looked over at Danny, he seen the teen shake or pull himself closer to the door.

"Danny, you can relax," Robert whispered as he stopped at a red light. Danny grabbed the door handle and pulled at the locked door. "Danny, don't. I know you don't like small spaces, but right now, you need to relax."

"I can't," Danny whispered as he pulled the handle again`. Thankfully the door was locked so he couldn't jump out while he was driving. "I can't."

"Danny, stop it, right now," Robert ordered watching the teen go into a panic attack. He pulled over and put the car into park, unlocking the doors. Danny opened the door and shot outside. Robert followed him as the teen leaned over railing of the bridge he had stopped on. "Danny, you're safe. Stop."

"No more small spaces," Danny whispered shaking. Robert reached out to him, but pulled his hand back afraid of what Danny would do. "No more, please."

"Danny, you're not in the car anymore," Robert assured chancing putting his hand on the hybrid's shoulder. He felt Danny's muscles tense so badly that he was sure the teen would attack. "Danny, you have to relax. You're going to hurt yourself."

"I can't do this," Danny whispered as Robert gently squeezed his shoulder hoping to be of some comfort.

"Yes, you can, you just need relax and let people in," Robert stated making sure that the teen wasn't going to run now. "Please, what has suddenly gotten into you? You were opening up and letting me in, and now you're closing back up. It's not helping you."

"Last night I had a nightmare," Danny whispered looking out over the city. Robert suddenly understood a bit more about why the hybrid was so hostile that morning. Robert realized he wasn't going to get anymore out of the teen without pushing him.

"What was it about?" Robert asked leaning against the railing as well. Danny needed him more right now than going to the center. He watched as Danny tensed.

"Just…no," Danny whispered looking away slowly letting himself relax.

"Danny, I can't help you if I don't know what it is that has you getting nightmares," Robert stated while carefully the teen. Danny looked down at the ground. "If you tell me what your nightmare was about, I might be able to figure out what will created it."

"I've always had them though," Danny whispered looking up at Robert. "I've been told that several times, and it never worked. It was all used against me."

"I won't use it against you," Robert promised, but knew that Danny probably wasn't going to open up in that way. "You told your sister about everything, didn't you?"

"I trusted her with everything. I trusted her with me," Danny whispered wiping tears from his eyes. "When Sharon seen the scars on my body, I remembered when my own sister had done the same thing. The only difference was that I was rebandaging one of the wounds." Robert looked back at his car.

"I'll get you a journal," he informed motioning towards the car. "The center isn't far from here, and then you can wonder around outside. But I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

"I hate feeling trapped," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around his body. He didn't even know why he got in the car in the first place. It drove him insane.

"What if the windows are down?" Robert suggested wondering if he could get the hybrid to agree to that. It was too cold for that, but he was willing to wear his coat if it helped Danny feel a little better about being in one. "Could you handle it then?"

"We can try," Danny whispered walking back towards the car. Robert nodded and got in as Danny slowly sat in the seat, but he didn't completely get in. Robert started the car back up and rolled down Danny's window.

"Come on, I don't want to get stuck in too much traffic, and if nothing extremely bad happens, I'll let you fly home," Robert offered hoping that it would make the teen pull his legs inside and shut the door. He did and looked extremely freaked out. "We'll have to work on you being able to handle being in vehicles."

"As long as I can still fly back," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around his chest to prevent himself from grabbing the door handle again. Robert just watched the teen carefully out of his eye. He hoped he made the right decision in helping the teen. Virgil said that Phantom was a respected hero everywhere but Amity Park. He only agreed to helping Danny because he was a hero. He just hoped that Danny still had it in him to do that. So far that's what he had shown, but when he had Sharon pinned against the counter, Robert knew that Danny had a more dangerous side. One that could hurt everyone if it got out.

Danny had been hurt too many times for something not to have changed in the way he thinks. He will protect himself from others wanting to harm him. Robert knew this, but trying to figure out how to stop the protective nature of Danny from hurting others when he feels threaten is the tricky part. He has dealt with children who have been abused on many levels, but Danny was in a whole other world. The people he turned to betrayed him. The man looked at the teenager who was nervously rubbing his arms. The jacket he had was one of Virgil's old ones, and it wasn't for winter use.

"Danny, if you're cold, I can roll the window up partly," Robert stated knowing that the window being down was the only comfort Danny had at the moment.

"N..no," Danny stuttered pulling his arms closer to his body. He sort of felt a little comfort from the window being down. "I…I'm…fi...ne." Robert frowned as they pulled up to a stoplight. He pulled his coat off and handed it to Danny. He could handle the cold for now, but he wasn't going to let Danny get sick. Danny smiled at him and took the coat before it could lose any of the heat that was in it. He curled it around his front and closed his eyes, trying to find a better place.

Robert pulled into the parking lot and into his spot. He rolled the window up making Danny tense and immediately open the door. He smiled slightly as the hybrid handed him his coat. He put it on and got out with Danny following closely behind. The teen shivered as the cold air wrapped around his frame. The jacket was older and didn't quite keep the heat in. He wrapped his arms around himself, and he had never felt so small before.

Robert looked at the teen that was following him, and he felt bad that the teen couldn't keep himself warm. He was still wary of touching of him since he pinned Sharon against the counter. Danny did keep his head down though, and Robert knew that he was feeling guilty. It was good to know that Danny regretted his actions, but figuring out how to prevent him from attacking others before having to feel guilty is what he needed to figure out. He hoped that the more he worked with getting Danny to open up.

They entered the building seeing no one right away. Danny looked around feeling like everything was caving in. He tensed looking around the building feeling like he was about to be ambushed. He expanded his senses, and that's when he felt it, the energies of the ecto weapons in the room. He grabbed Robert's arm and stopped. Robert looked at him afraid Danny was going to do something stupid.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Robert asked as Danny took in a breath.

"Clearly attempting to use you as a shield," someone stated walking up behind them. Danny tensed knowing whose voice it was. "He's suffering, and he needs help." Robert turned around to see a young woman with long red hair. "He escaped from his treatment center, and it's taken us quite a while to find him again." Danny's grip tighten on Robert's arm hoping that he would understand that she was lying.

"He seems pretty fine to me," Robert stated wondering what was going on. He looked around and noticed that the entire place seemed almost empty. Danny closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before changing into Phantom. Robert shivered as the rings traveled over him.

"I'm not going back to that hell," Phantom whispered as power resounded though the building. Green energy surrounded him as his eyes sharpened and looked around the room. Jazz only grinned and motioned for the others to come out.

"Oh, I highly doubt anyone would care. You hide here under your human half hoping that this place would protect you? They don't care about you, you're a freak," she informed pulling out her own weapon and aiming it at him. The energy never lowered or shifted; it only strengthened. Phantom's hold on Robert helped him know that Robert didn't think like that. He could feel the man's emotions though his grip.

"Don't listen to her," Robert whispered looking at Phantom knowing that right now, the teen needed him. Whoever this person was, he had a plan on how to boost Phantom's rep along with destroying theirs. "Let's get out of here, right now."

"Please, where will you go, Danny? You need to come with me before you hurt anyone," Jazz informed making Robert hope he was making the right call. He gave the hybrid a nod and suddenly his vision was filled with a bright green light. He held on to Phantom's arms since he couldn't see anything and when his vision cleared he could see trees that he knew were in the park.

"Danny, who was that?" Robert asked seeing the ghost collapse on the ground and look up at him.

"That was my sister," he whispered with tears in his eyes. He pulled his legs up to his chest and fought back a wave of pain. Robert kneeled next to him.

"How'd she know you would be there?" he asked concerned about his and his family's safety. Phantom was shaking when he looked up at the man.

"The robbery there were agents there," Phantom whispered. "The SWAT team had to cover me in order to make sure that I could get the hostages out without them interfering."

"You have someone that you trust in the police force," Robert whispered knowing he could use that. If he could get several officers to side with Phantom then they could get them to start patrolling and help protect him. "We need to get to the police station then. Maybe they'll be willing to help you."

"We could try," Phantom whispered looking up as Robert held out his hand to help Phantom stand back up. Phantom smiled up at him taking the offered hand glad that after everything he screwed and messed up, Robert was still willing to trust him. It touched him deeply to know that someone trusted him on this level.

"Everything she said back there isn't true," Robert stated as Phantom dusted himself off a little. Phantom looked up at him. "You're not a freak; you're special. You've done amazing and incredible things to protect those around you." Phantom smiled as a few tears leaked down his face.

* * *

**Danny: This chapter is being up because someone got one of her questions correct.**

**Me: that would be Mai'shardstyle. She got the question in Black Phantom correct and has chosen this story to have been updated before any of the others...**

**Danny: She doesn't have a cool question for this one because she's sleepy...and doesn't quite care at the moment.**

**Me: I would like reviews though...I'm feeling sad...almost no one is reviewing the chapters...it makes me sad.**

**Danny: So now y'all must suffer.**


	9. Picking up the Pieces

Ice Lightening

Chapter Eight

Picking up the Pieces

_"Think Twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of the another."_

_~Napoleon Hill~_

* * *

"Dude, what are we going to do?" Richie asked as he walked down the hallway. "We can't just leave Danny with your dad on Friday."

"He's not going to be going to the concert even if we got him a ticket," Virgil stated stopping at his locker and getting his books. "Danny doesn't like crowds."

"Times like this suck. Man, we could just go to the concert and let your dad watch him. He could work on getting him to open up some more," Richie stated making Virgil sigh and put down his books.

"I'm not going," Virgil stated. "You can though. Find someone who wants my ticket, I'll just stay at home with Danny and have a movie night. Maybe be able to show him more of a normal thing." Richie sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Man," Richie sighed. He had been looking forwards to the concert for so long, but now that they were hanging out with Danny, everything changed. They had to change how they hung out. Danny refused to go to certain places and hated going to different areas of the city. "I don't want to go alone though."

"Find a date," Virgil suggested as he headed to class. "Or you could ask your pops to go with you."

"Yeah, like my dad would want to go," Richie muttered under his breath slightly annoyed. He didn't like that he was being turned down because Virgil wanted to include Danny, but he knew some of the things Danny had been though. He could understand why Danny didn't like to do those certain things or go to those certain places. He couldn't really blame him for not wanting to go, but he just wished that Virgil would at least go to the concert with him. "Well, we could have Phantom patrol while we are there?"

"I'm not letting him do that by himself either, Rich," Virgil stated. "I want to go too, but I think hanging out with Danny and including him would help him recover faster, and then we could hang more. He might even be able to go to things like that. He can just vanish and appear inside places."

"Oh man," Richie sighed leaning against the lockers as Virgil closed his.

"Hey guys," Shanice smiled as she walked by. "I'm back in Dakota for a while, and I was wondering if we could get the team back together?" Virgil flinched slightly suddenly hit with the fact that they may need to tell her about Phantom.

"Uh, we kind of already have a third partner," Richie stated getting elbowed by Virgil. Shanice looked angry.

"So you replaced me?" she growled. Virgil sighed.

"No, we're helping him though some really hard times," Virgil explained.

"Can I meet him?" she asked hoping that she would meet the kid who managed to somehow get in their group without any issues. She wanted to give a piece of her mind for doing whatever he did to get in the team. Virgil and Richie looked at each other before looking back at her.

"I would have to ask my Pops if you can," Virgil whispered unsure.

"I would have to ask your dad about whether or not I can meet your new 'teammate'?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice. Richie put his hands up.

"Danny's not a bad guy," he defended. "He's just been though a lot, and he doesn't like to be surrounded by people he doesn't know. He's just had a bad experience."

"Wonderful," Shanice growled walking away from them. Virgil watched her telling Richie he would see him later and caught up to her.

"Shanice, Danny was abused," he whispered when he was walking next to her. She slowed down and looked up at him. "It was because of his powers, and he constantly feels like everyone is out to get him. He was experimented on…"

"I was created in a lab," she whispered. "What's the point there?"

"Unlike you, the scientists that were around him only tortured him," Virgil stated. "He just kind of fell into the team. He was already a hero before I was, if anything we joined him. He needs help, and that's what we've been trying to do." Shanice smiled at him.

"So I can't really meet him until your sure I won't attack him?" she stated feeling like he didn't trust her.

"Actually, at this moment, it's more of him not attacking you," Virgil stated. "I trust him, but there are times where he just isn't there. He's not always completely aware of what he's doing. All he relies on sometimes is his instincts, and he'll hurt someone if he thinks they'll hurt him."

"So you do trust me?" she asked and Virgil nodded.

"Yeah, it's just that Danny has enough issues, and I don't want to add to it. He's nervous around people as it is," Virgil explained. "It's not you; it's just that I don't want to add more to Danny's stress."

"Alright, so can I at least join in your patrol tonight?" she asked hoping that she would be able to get away with that at least. "We could split into teams."

"Me and Danny, and then you and Gear," Virgil confirmed. "I'll tell Danny about you, and then maybe we could slowly get him use to another person. He's just really shy."

"So, see ya later?" Shanice asked and Virgil nodded before they headed their separate ways.

* * *

"So, the center was attacked by a bunch of people who wanted to prevent you from helping this kid?" the officer confirmed as he wrote out the report. Robert nodded keeping his hand on the kid's shoulder. Danny was fidgeting in his seat slightly. He didn't want anything bad to happen now. They were going to be putting him into the system and checking everything.

"Yes," Robert confirmed. He didn't want to say that the person was Danny's sister since that would be unbelievable. They could go over that later. Right now, he just wanted to make sure that Danny was protected. "He comes from an abusive home, and I believe that his abusers might have people in some high places trying to cover their tracks after Danny started telling others trying to get help. I'm hoping you could help us make sure Danny gets the justice he deserves." The officer looked at the teen with a sad look. Danny flinched and tensed wanting to get out of there.

"I'll need his name so I know what I'm looking for, and who we are looking out for," the officer stated as he typed on his computer. Danny shook his head, and Robert gave him a little push. The teen took in a deep breath.

"My name is Daniel Fenton," Danny answered looking at him shyly. "I ran from Amity because my parents started abusing me. I was hoping to get far enough away that they couldn't get me again." The officer looked up at the teen wondering if what the teen was saying was even true. "I tried to tell the Amity Police, but my family has ties to Masters. The mayor of Amity Park, and my case disappeared in an instant. I had nowhere else to go." Danny hoped that he could get them to go through with it before Masters got involved and paid them off. The officer nodded and wrote everything down.

"I have a friend in the FBI who does his job because he wants to make a difference. I'll tell him about it, and he'll get you what you need," the officer promised. "Just stay here while I make the call and if you can give a description of the people who attacked you, then I'll send a sketch artist here." Danny nodded.

"We'll see what we can do," Robert stated as he sat down and forced Danny to sit next to him. The officer nodded heading away.

"I was hoping to avoid being put into the system," Danny whispered as officers looked at him with confusion. "I'm not going to be able to stay with you now, will I?"

"I have friends who'll let you," Robert smiled. "They understand what my job is and what I do to help teens out of troubles like yours, and I'll be considered your legal guardian from then on."

"Cool," Danny whispered with a small smile. Robert smiled back, and he could barely tell that this was the same kid that had pinned Sharon against the counter that morning. Danny was still a long ways away from being okay, but he was working on it. He was opening up. "You do realize how dangerous this will be."

"Which is why there is the media right outside," Robert stated pointing outside. Danny flinched looking at them. "Cops keep them from you, and they keep whoever is after you away. They can't touch a hot story. They can't make it go away if Amity hears of it. By that time, there'll be so many reporters who won't stop until they have the entire story."

"Make everyone know so it's harder to throw under the rug," Danny whispered shyly. He looked at the news reporters. "It's a good plan, and a dangerous one."

"No matter what we do here, it'll be dangerous," Robert stated. That's when Sharon ran though the door.

"Daddy, oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?" she asked as she hugged him. Danny looked down feeling like he was crushed suddenly.

"I'm fine, Sharon," Robert smiled and hugged her back. "They were after Danny." Sharon turned to him, and he instantly flinched and pushed his chair back before standing up. Sharon wrapped her arms around him before he could go anywhere.

"Are you okay?" she asked while keeping him in an embrace. Danny put his hands on her shoulders to push her away, but Robert shook his head and motioned for him to just hug her back. Danny swallowed and gently returned the hug. Sharon sighed knowing that her father probably made Danny do it, but that was good enough for her to know that her father had been able to get through to the teen.

"I'm…fine," Danny whispered as she let him go. He backed a few steps away from her. She looked at him. Sharon sighed and looked back at her dad.

"So, I'm guessing it had something to do with…what I'm not allowed to know," Sharon guessed as she glanced at Danny. Robert nodded, and Sharon sat down in the chair Danny had been in as another officer came up to them.

"If the three of you could follow me, and we'll go to the sketch artist," he informed motioning for them to follow Sharon and Robert started, but Danny stopped them.

"He said that the artist was coming to us," Danny informed watching the officer stop and look at him. "I'm not going anywhere with someone I don't know." The officer's smile faltered.

"We are really busy, and we…" the officer was cut off as Danny pulled Sharon and Robert behind him.

"I do not trust you, and so far, I do not like you," Danny informed stalking forward making the officer back up. Other officers looked up, and when they grabbed their gun, another officer pointed it at the man Danny had pinned against the wall.

"I do not know who you are, but I'm pretty sure you're not the sketch artist," he informed. "I haven't seen you around before, and I'm the one whose supposed to do the art work here. I was just getting ready to do that before you got here." Every gun was suddenly trained on the fake officer. "Put your gun on the ground and put your hands in the air," the officer ordered making the false one do exactly that. Danny made sure that Sharon and Robert were behind, but the officer grabbed the teen's wrist and put a knife to his throat. Danny gasped as he was held down.

"You do anything, and I kill the kid," the man informed pressing the blade against Danny's neck. Danny grabbed the guy's arm and flipped him over his shoulder before crushing his arm that had the knife. A resounding crack rang through the silent building as everyone watched the scene unfold.

"The next time you decide to work for them," Danny whispered in his ear so no one else could hear. "Make sure it's not the kid they trained to disarm and kill within only a few seconds." Danny backed away letting the other officers handle it. Robert seen the anger and hostile look that the teen had as he walked back towards them.

"Danny, are you okay?" Robert asked concerned for the teen. However, Danny didn't drop his guard or say anything. Robert felt like the hybrid was now keeping something from him and it worried him deeply. Sharon reached out, but Danny glared at her in warning. She pulled her hand back, and Robert knew that what little they had been able to get Danny to open up around others was completely destroyed. He closed himself off again, and this time, it looked like he wasn't about to open back up any time soon.

"Danny," Robert called making Danny look at him instead of glaring at his daughter. "Come on, let's get this done, and then we'll head back home so the police can investigate the center for anything else." Danny nodded and followed him back to their desk. He was still tensed and ready for a fight. Robert was beginning to worry that maybe Danny's violent streak was worse than he thought.

He was more dangerous and deadly now that he was on edge. Robert knew now that they couldn't get skirt around anything anymore. They had to confront the teen and about force him to open up more to let them in, they had to know how to handle him. They had to reteach him how to act in society. He needed someone to keep him grounded, but he had to open up.

* * *

Robert told Danny to sit at the table in the kitchen when they got home. There was a police car outside making sure that nothing was going to happened. It was a failsafe of just in case. The first thing Danny had done when he entered the house was to search for any and all listening devices. He destroyed thirteen bugs that had been scattered though the entire house.

"They were in my house," Robert whispered as he exited the kitchen to talk to Sharon. "I don't want to continue this, but I can't just let him handle this himself."

"What's he gotten into?" Sharon asked. "I need to know, Daddy. What have we gotten into?" Robert sighed before collapsing on the couch.

"I have him cooling down a little in the kitchen; I gave him some ice cream. If you want to know, it's best to wait for Virgil," Robert informed. Sharon sat down.

"Really? Seriously? We have to wait for Virgil?" she threw her hands in the air in annoyance before sighing heavily. They had been keeping her in the dark the entire time.

"Yes, I'm going to try to talk to Danny," Robert informed as he slowly stood up. "I just hope he's calmed down enough to not go overboard."

He walked into the kitchen to see Danny sitting in a chair completely still and just staring at a spot on the wall. Robert took in a calming breath hoping that Danny wouldn't do anything. After today, he was afraid that maybe Danny would be too much. The teen needed help, and wasn't afraid to ask, but it was how badly Danny had been hurt. He sat down across from the teen, and Danny's glaze immediately settled on him.

"I'm guessing you're going to tell me to get away now," Danny stated without any emotion. Robert sighed again as he realized that Danny sealed himself off. The teen was protecting himself from them. He didn't want to be hurt again. "Can I at least take a few things that you've given me?"

"You're not going anywhere," Robert promised leaning over the table with a small smile. "You're still welcome here. I was just wondering if you were okay." Danny looked him in the eyes looking for anything that would tell him differently.

"After everything, you're still willing to help me?" Danny asked holding himself together. Hope wrapped around his heart, and he fought to keep himself from believing it. He was terrified. Robert smiled at him.

"No one else will be, and I don't want to let you to fall though the system and become some criminal that could one day end up facing Static," Robert stated as Danny tried to fight his reaction to that. Of course he'll care about his son and who he was fighting. "When you could end up fighting next to him. You could make a huge difference in someone's life and save so many people." Danny let a smile appear as he wrapped his arms around his chest as he let that thought come. He knew that feeling well, and it was one he held close to his heart.

"Thanks," Danny whispered. Robert smiled glad Danny was okay still. Even if he wasn't acting like it.

"What did you tell that guy when you pinned him down?" Robert asked looking at Danny who immediately closed up. Danny didn't want him to know that. He may have been willing to help to him, but if he knew about the training they forced into him, and some of the things they had forced him to do, would he still be willing to let him? Danny finally found people who were willing to listen and to help him. He didn't want to ruin that by telling them that.

"Danny, whatever it was upset you, and I need to know what it was," Robert pressed seeing that it was still upsetting the teen. "You won't heal if you keep everything bottled, and the way you're acting now. Danny, please. I want to know what I'm getting into, and you're the only one who can tell me without putting lies into it." Danny looked up at him with tears in his eyes.

"I can't," he whispered looking back down at his lap. Robert put his hand on the teen's shoulder making Danny blink and let the tears trail down his cheeks.

"Danny, if I'm going to help you, I need to know," Robert stated squeezing Danny's shoulder gently. "Please, I'm already in deep, and going any farther isn't going to hurt anything."

"Yes it will," Danny whispered as his voice broke. Robert sighed and pulled his hand away.

"After today, there's nothing you can tell me that will make me turn my back on you," Robert promised. "I'm doing everything in my power to help you." Danny wanted to believe it, but he knew that Robert would treat him differently.

"Hey, Pops, I seen the cop car outside, what's going on?" Virgil asked opening the door seeing Danny sitting there with tears going down his cheeks. Robert seemed intent on trying to get him to open up. "Did something happen?"

"At the center, someone came for him," Robert answered looking at his son. "Even at the station, and he closed up tightly after that." Danny looked down at the ground hating that he was closed up, but he wanted to protect them. He didn't want to hurt them anymore than he already had.

"Who?" Virgil asked looking at Danny. "Danny, don't close up. It'll only let them win." Danny looked up at him in surprise while Robert smiled. It was true. They're goal was to make sure that Danny wouldn't get help and that anyone wouldn't get close to him or have him isolate himself so that they could easily cover everything up.

"Danny, what are they trying to hide?" Robert asked hoping that Danny would tell them that. Danny closed his eyes and fisted his hands. They weren't asking what he was hiding anymore; they were asking what they had been trying to hide.

"That they let their most deadly and dangerous weapon get away," he answered looking away. "One they trained to kill professionally and without remorse." Robert looked down while Virgil took in a deep breath.

"They'll have armies to get you back, won't they?" Virgil asked narrowing his eyes at the table trying to think of some way to help protect Danny. They'll want him back since he would be such a valued asset.

"Probably," Danny whispered looking at him. "That'll be a last resort."

"It's bigger than just meta humans here in Dakota," Virgil sighed leaning against the wall. "I have some pretty powerful friends though. Ones who have authority in other planets." Danny looked at him surprised.

"The Justice League?" he whispered unsure. "They usually work with the Government not against them."

"There's a difference this time," Virgil smiled. "You have me to back you up. They'll help if I ask them to. They'll probably write it off at first, but I can tell them about how big this is and how important it could be. They'll help if this could mean life or death for several other innocent people."

"Keeping them away from a weapon that could destroy the entire world," Danny whispered. "You could tell them that. It'll get them to do something about it pretty quickly."

"Well, for now, Virgil, Sharon wants to know what's been going on," Robert informed. "We should probably tell her since whatever Danny has been thrown into it is dangerous enough for you to think that getting the League involved would be a good idea." Virgil sighed and nodded before getting his sister. Robert looked at Danny.

"If the League gets paranoid enough, they could end up taking me away as well," Danny whispered. "They would just lock me up again somewhere."

"I won't let that happen," Ro+

bert promised. "If they try, you come here. You get away from them, and you head here. Virgil will handle them. They probably don't know how to contain you, but I'm not going to let all the work in making sure you're safe go to waste for you to end up back in some prison." Danny smiled.

"Thanks," he whispered. Sharon walked in the room and sat down next to her father while glaring at Virgil.

"So now you guys are going to tell me everything," Sharon growled. "Since it took someone attacking and us taking in a random kid, I guess it's about time."

"We were going to tell you earlier, but you were all….blah," Virgil informed as he sat down next to Danny. "Plus, Danny's not as random as you would like to believe." Danny looked at her and held up his hand and created a small ice crystal.

"So we took in a bang baby," Sharon muttered glaring at Danny who smiled slightly.

"I've had my powers long before that happened," he informed her. She looked at her brother and father in confusion before looking back at the teen in front of her. Danny looked at the two before changing into Phantom. Sharon's mouth fell open.

"You might want to close your mouth before you catch flies," Virgil grinned making Sharon glare at him.

"You decided to help a wanted criminal?" she demanded looking at Phantom before looking at the two. Phantom looked down and stood up before walking away from the table.

"He's not a criminal," Virgil informed harshly before Phantom could have a chance to run. "He's a hero."

"Not according to…" Sharon started only for Robert to hush her.

"You seen the scars, Sharon," he stated looking at her. "Those aren't all battle scars. He's been framed." Sharon looked at him.

"Next you're going to tell me that Virgil really is Static!" she yelled making Virgil grin widely.

"Well, that just made the next part even easier," he stated making her faint. Robert sighed and looked at the teen who had wrapped his cloak around himself.

"Danny, you okay?" he asked as he walked over to the ghost. Phantom looked up at him before changing back.

"Yeah, I just thought that being labeled as a criminal was gone. I worked so hard to get the title gone, and now…I'm always labeled because of what I am," Danny whispered. "It hurts."

"I know, there are a lot of people who are treated badly because of what they look like or who they are. You're just in the really extreme part," Robert stated. "People understand what it's like to be labeled because of who they are. They don't see part their own arrogance. You're a really good kid, Danny. Don't let anyone tell you any different."

"I think you've told me that before," Danny smiled slightly. "Although, you wanted to know why I was so off after that one guy in the station." Robert looked at Danny realizing that Danny's trust had been built up enough where the teen at least knew he would protect him. "There was a low point while I was in that lab. I didn't care what happened." Danny looked down trying to keep his emotions down so he could explain. "I lost part of myself. I let everything go, and I was so sick of being in there."

Robert kept quiet afraid that if he spoke, Danny wouldn't get it out ever again. The teen was on the verge of tears, and Robert knew that the teen had been bottling everything up.

"I just attacked anyone who came near me. It didn't matter who they were or what they were trying to do. I was scared and I wanted out," Danny whispered. "My lowest point was how I managed to get out. I destroyed my cell in a fit of rage. I didn't care who I hurt at that point, or even if I killed them." Robert swallowed slightly.

"Did you?" he asked silently. He couldn't really blame Danny for going that far. He was scared and trapped. He resorted to his natural instincts to survive.

"I'm not sure," Danny whispered. "That's what bugging me. I can't remember what I did to get out. I just know that I didn't care what happened to anyone else as long as I was out." Robert gently pulled the teen into a gentle hug.

"It's okay," he whispered knowing that it truly wasn't, but maybe he could trick Danny into believing it was. The kid didn't know if he truly killed anyone anyway. He may not have. He could have seriously injured them to the point where they were in the hospital, but he knew that chance was small. However, that question may never be answered truthfully unless Danny remembers what happened. Robert knew that Danny wouldn't outright lie to him. Danny seemed too loyal to really do that.

"No, it's not," Danny whispered back, but didn't shrug him off. Robert sighed slightly knowing that at least the teen was willing to let them comfort him. It was the first time Danny really let him touch him without pulling away or freaking out. "It's far from okay." Robert sighed and pulled Danny back slightly.

"We'll figure everything out," Robert promised lifting the teen's chin up. "You're a good kid who has just been though some tough times. You'll be okay, no matter what happened or what will happen." Danny smiled slightly.

"Thanks, for everything," he whispered as he looked down. Robert pulled his chin up again.

"Don't look down, you'll only let yourself hurt more. Look up and be prepared. It's going to be your best defense right now," Robert advised. "Let's get some dinner."


	10. Putting Them Together

Ice Lightening

Chapter Nine

_Putting Them Together_

_"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty, and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."_

_~Malcom X~_

* * *

Sharon watched silently as Danny slept on the couch. Virgil walked down the stairs to see her there. He looked at Danny and knew that Sharon was probably still trying to get over everything.

"So I'm guessing you're taking Danny's secret harder than mine," Virgil stated leaning against the couch. Sharon glared at him.

"I've already thought that you were Static before. But Danny…being Phantom of any of them. He's so far from Amity," Sharon whispered. "How'd he get here? Where'd he get those scars? Why is he here?"

"He was trapped in a lab because he had powers," Virgil informed. Sharon looked up at him. "He's here because we're the only ones who were willing to help him."

"That's what Dad told me," she whispered. "He also said that it was his parents that were the ones that had been the reason he was in there."

"Yes, they gave him away like an animal," Virgil spat, glaring at the wall. "Danny needed people to support him and all he got in return was hate. He doesn't deserve to be going through all this."

"I had a friend from Amity once. She believed that Phantom destroyed her life. I haven't talked to her in a while though," Sharon whispered. "I guess maybe I could ask her a few questions about it. I still have her email." Virgil shrugged.

"I guess if you wanted to," Virgil muttered. "Just…be careful not to raise any suspicious. Remember, you blow his secret, you blow mine as well. It's not that hard and some people already know that Phantom has been working with Static. It would be really dangerous if someone figured it out."

"Danny… I didn't understand why Dad had taken him in so quickly," Sharon whispered. "Now, why did Danny tell you guys who he was? That's something I don't understand."

"He figured out I was Static. He can detect bang babies," Virgil explained, looking at the teen who shifted on the couch. "Before you ask why, he was trying to find help. He had been on the street for a long time, and Pops was just trying to figure out who he was to see if he couldn't get him some help. Maybe find his parents and home."

"Can we trust him?" Sharon asked, looking at her brother in worry. "How do you know he won't turn on you?"

"I know a few things about him that he was terrified to tell others," Virgil answered, shaking his head. "I trust him because he deserves that chance. He's already proven his loyalty."

"How'd he do that?" Sharon asked, looking down while trying to figure out how he could have done that in such a short time.

"He was willing to help us even when he was terrified and wanted to do nothing but run from everything. He was afraid of going into certain places, even with his powers," Virgil stated. "He still stayed with us to make sure that we were safe. He's kind of like a silent guardian."

"I have to get ready for work. Even after yesterday, I still have work," Sharon sighed, going into the kitchen. Virgil looked down at his new friend and hoped that he was making the right decision. Static and Gear were going to contact the League later that day. Danny needed them if this was as big as he thought it was. Danny tried to down play it, but Virgil knew that whoever was after him had been hiding secrets.

Danny deserved justice, and Virgil knew that the League would be more likely to get it done than just him and Gear. They were well known, but not enough to where they were safe, and they didn't have enough backup to insure it.

Robert walked down the stairs and saw Virgil getting ready to go into the kitchen. He cleared his throat to get his son's attention.

"We have to keep strong tabs on him," Robert informed. "We can't let him go anywhere without someone with him."

"To make sure that he's safe," Virgil agreed, but Robert shook his head.

"To make sure that everyone else is safe from him. Virgil, he can be very dangerous," Robert warned. "He…Virgil, he's in deep trouble, and could be on the edge. He's not sure what side he's on anymore."

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked, looking back at Danny who had curled his legs up to his chest.

"He's awake," Robert stated going into the kitchen. Virgil gulped and walked back over to the couch where Danny had his eyes closed tightly.

"Danny, what happened? You were a little off yesterday, but you seemed okay later. What changed?" Virgil asked leaning over the couch. Danny shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is it about them training you to be a killer?" Virgil asked. "You're not one. You've fought not to be one, and honestly, I can't see you as one. You're a good kid."

"No, it…just drop it," Danny whispered, looking away from him and tightening his hold around his legs. He didn't want to talk about it. It hurt too much.

* * *

**Dakota Graveyard **

Lancer sighed as he gently placed the black roses on the gravestone. He knew Sam would have liked them. She loved the color black, and he wished that he could've done something to save her, or at the very least her memory. Danny didn't deserve to be tricked like that, and Lancer was sure that this was probably the beginning of the end for the young hero.

"I wish that there was something I could've have done to stop this," Lancer whispered, looking at the other two graves. They were her cousins. It had been a dark rainy night when they were hit. The other driver had been texting and drunk driving. Lancer was pretty sure that was even worse than just doing one. He sighed again and got up slowly to avoid hurting his back. He had to figure out who the imposter was in Amity and why Tucker turned on him as well.

He wondered what had happened to Jazz. Why did she disappear? He looked at the date of the wreck on the stone and paused. It was a day after Jazz had disappeared.

* * *

Danny walked slowly behind the two as they headed back to the gas station. They had told him a bit about another hero named She-Bang and explained how she wanted to patrol with them that night. He said he wanted to stay at the house, but Virgil pushed him into going to stretch out his powers and that he needed to get out of the house. The only reason he had agreed was because Virgil promised that they were going in teams and Danny would be with Static.

"Hey guys," She-Bang smiled making Danny stop at the door and refuse to go in. Virgil sighed before pulling the hybrid into the doorway so they could at least close the door. "This must be your friend Danny. I didn't mean to come early, but my parents are still at work. I was bored."

"Danny, this is She-Bang," Virgil informed as he got out his Static outfit. "She-Bang, this is Danny, or Phantom. She-Bang is also Shanice from our school."

"Hey, why tell him that?" She-Bang stated, glaring at Virgil. He shrugged.

"He knows ours and he'll figure out yours when he meets Shanice, doesn't really matter," he stated as he headed into the back. Richie just leaned against the counter trying to figure out how to go about this. Danny pressed himself against the wall furthest from She-Bang while she looked at Richie sadly.

"Is he always like this?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the teen who was looking at the police scanner.

"Yep," Richie answered getting out some pudding cups and throwing them to both She-Bang and Danny who caught it without flinching. Richie smiled, glad that they at least got him used to having things tossed to him. Danny sighed and set the cup on the counter. "Danny, you okay?"

"No," he whispered looking at the ground. "I'm not."

"What's wrong?" Richie asked, slowly walking forward. Danny shook his head.

"Just bad memories that keep coming up," he whispered. "They're just ones I've pushed back for so long that it's almost like reliving it."

"Which ones?" Richie asked keeping a distance. Static walked in the room to see Danny looking even more down than when they got there.

"Ones from when I got out, the time when I completely lost it," Danny answered turning around and heading out. Static reached out to him.

"Danny, wait," Static raced after him. Richie sighed as he looked at She-Bang.

"That was Danny in a nutshell. Quite literally," he smiled, making She-Bang sigh.

* * *

"Danny, are you okay?" Static asked as he chased Phantom down. Phantom landed on the roof of some building and leaned against the side of the small wall at the edge.

"No, now stop asking," Phantom muttered. He would have lied, saying that he was fine if it wasn't for the fact that it was so obvious anymore. He was thinner than normal, he had been locked in a lab, and then he's not sure about what he had done to escape. Static gently placed his hand on the teen's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Okay," he whispered, sitting next to him. Phantom sighed and pulled his legs up to his chest. Static knew not to push him any farther than this. He really didn't need the teen to run off again, although, Phantom seemed to calm down a little after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Why do you guys even keep trying?" Phantom whispered, looking at Static. "I mean, why go through all the trouble of helping me and not knowing what I'm capable of."

"Because you need help," Static stated. "And, you have potential to be one of the greatest heroes ever. You deserve a chance to prove yourself, but I know that you're not going to be able to do it alone." Phantom sighed and looked back over the city.

"I might've killed people," he whispered. "What kind of hero does that?"

"A broken one," Static informed. "One who was in so much pain and desperation that they couldn't hold back any longer. But you don't know if you did or not. No one may have even died."

"Then why can't I remember? I've had time to actually start thinking about everything, and that's the only thing I can't remember. Everything else…it's so easy to remember like it had just happened, and the pain," Phantom whispered, looking back at Static. "Why can't I remember that?"

"Because nothing happened," Static whispered. "You had so much going on that it just locked that part away or maybe your head didn't deem it necessary after a while of being on the run. It had other things running though it and it was lost. It doesn't mean you did anything."

"How can you be sure?" Phantom asked, feeling like a weight was slowly being lifted. Knowing that someone believed in him so much when he barely believed in himself was helping him. Static looked over the city.

"After everything that happened to you, you're still willing to help those in need even ones who had hurt you in the past," Static informed. "That's how I know. It's who you are now, you're a hero." Tears slowly gathered in Phantom's eyes, but he held them back. Static would never know how much his speech truly helped the hybrid out of the dark hole, but, for now, he just wanted to work on getting to know the family that had willingly helped him even through all of this. They had already known some of his most darkest secrets. He may as well start learning about them as well.

* * *

Phantom and Static were on the east side while Gear and She-Bang were patrolling the west. Static looked over to his newest friend and saw the thoughtful look the hybrid had. He was just looking down at the city, something Gear hated to do at first because he was afraid to fall. Phantom seemed completely at ease though, and Static couldn't help but smile at the teen.

Phantom was relaxed, and he felt safe. It was strange since earlier he had had his life threatened, but the longer he hung out with the two heroes, the more relaxed he was becoming. The hybrid stopped in mid air, making Static pass him and turn around to face him.

"Danny, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned. Phantom shook his head.

"Thought I heard something," he whispered, looking down. It was then that he saw the two agents in white suits staring at him. He swallowed and looked up at Static with worry. "They're down there."

"Who is?" Static asked, flying closer to the teen and looking down. The two guys seemed to have glared at him before continuing to walk down the street talking among themselves. "Danny, I'm not going to let them take you. You're safe now."

"I know, but I'm afraid that they might hurt you guys to get to me," Phantom whispered rubbing his side. Static floated next to him before putting his arm around the teen's shoulders. Phantom only stayed and Static knew that he had come a long way from when they had first met.

"Do they know about your human half?" Static asked, cautiously knowing that Phantom seemed sensitive about giving information in the first place.

"I don't think they know who I am or what I look like, but I think they know that I'm part human," Phantom whispered as he headed back towards the center of the city where they were going to meet Gear so that they could call in the League and tell them about this. Static wanted to make sure that they had back up just in case everything went south. He didn't know if they would be willing to help outright or not since they were really busy, but maybe they could at least get a heads up that something big was about to happen.

"Alright, well, we'll just have to see what happens here shortly," Static smiled, hoping to be of some comfort to the teen. Phantom nodded as they landed on a building. Gear landed not a few moments later while She-Bang appeared from the side. Phantom backed slightly away from her, but stayed still.

"I have the number they gave us last time, but I haven't been able to get though," Gear stated. "I think they're blocking us out."

"They said we could call if we got into something too big for us. I wouldn't care if so much wasn't already at stake," Static stated, looking at the ghost boy. "I mean, these people won't stop, and I'm afraid of them figuring out where Danny's hiding."

"He could come to my house for a bit," Gear suggested. "Change it up a little to try to make sure they stay off the trail. We could alternate." She-Bang looked at Phantom with a smile.

"I'm sure my parents won't mind either if he's willing to let me help," she put in looking at the two heroes. Phantom looked at her with a small smile before looking out over his shoulder to the sudden police lights.

"We have to go," Gear stated as he lifted off the ground. Phantom floated while they all got ready to go. "We'll have to try again when we get to the station." Static nodded and they all headed to the ruckus.

* * *

There were officers surrounding a burning building while fire trucks and ambulances were pulling up and getting everything ready. Firefighters and paramedics were running around trying to get the fire under control as fast as possible while people were screaming from the building. Static nodded to Phantom as the teen disappeared into the building to work his way down from the top. Static and Gear landed in the middle while officers were yelling orders.

"Static, I'm glad you're here, can you get the top floors I think…" the chief asked when, suddenly, ice started forming from the top and slowly began to put the upper floors out.

"If I knew he could do that, I would've had him start at the bottom," Static smiled. "I have a friend who's up there now." After he said that, Phantom appeared with three little kids. Their parents immediately ran from the sidelines to hold them. Phantom smiled at Static before vanishing again.

"Is that the ghost kid I've heard so much about from Michael?" the chief asked, looking at Static. The hero nodded.

"Sometimes he makes everything really easy with this kind of thing," he said. "I feel like he could put me and Gear out of the game with what all he can really do."

"He's put out three floors and cleared them. The fire's under control and we asked him to make sure that people are out and not to worry about the fire. We have it," a fire fighter stated while he was taking in deep breathes. "But I would have some people on standby for him, he doesn't look that good."

"I'm on it," Static stated, pulling on his goggles and flying into the building. Gear did the same thing and followed his friend. They had to make sure that Phantom didn't over do it, and help him in any way they could. Gear got distracted by something else happening on a lower level leaving Static to find his friend.

Static flew into the building to see Phantom trying to get a young kid out of the closet.

"It's okay," Phantom coughed, covering his mouth while he reached out with his other hand. "I'm going to get you out of here and to your parents, I promise." The little kid shook his head before pushing himself farther into the closet. Phantom wanted to just grab him, but he didn't want to scare the kid. That's when the ceiling started to collapse in. Phantom reacted quickly by freezing it and creating a shield over the kid.

"Hey, kid," Static called, reaching out hoping to get him to come out. "We're here to get you out of here, but we have to get out now before the building decides to go." The kid looked between the hero and the unknown teenager holding up the ceiling. He ran into Static's arms and Static nodded for Phantom follow him out. Phantom looked like hell already. He needed to quit pushing himself so far. All Static wanted was for him to clear the top floors while he was going to work his way up.

When they got outside, She-Bang and Gear were helping the firefighters put the fire out. Paramedics came rushing at them as the building seemed to wheeze slightly before the top floor collapsed and shattered the ice. Phantom immediately put a shield up to protect them as it crashed down. Static looked at the hybrid worriedly, seeing that he was breathing heavily.

"Phantom, you okay?" Static asked gently, setting his hand on his friend's shoulder. Phantom tensed and looked at him.

"I'm fine," he smiled slightly, and Static could only shake his head.

"Don't push yourself, we can handle the rest," Static promised as Phantom dropped his shield. The chief came up to them and looked the small teenager up and down before smiling.

"It's good to see young folks with powers helping out instead of stealing and causing trouble," he informed making Phantom jump and turn around in a defensive stance. Static gently put his hand on the hybrid's shoulder.

"Yeah, now if only people wouldn't try to kill him, we would have an easier time," Static whispered, gently squeezing the teen's shoulder as the hybrid relaxed.

"I didn't mean to startle you…Phantom, isn't it?" the chief asked holding out his hand for the teen to shake. The hybrid nodded and shook his hand making Static smile. He knew that just a few days ago Phantom would have never even considered it. "My name's Johnson. I'm chief of the fire department here." Phantom nodded pulling his arms around himself and letting his cloak close around him.

"Do you know if there's anymore?" Static asked, looking at the once inflamed building. There was smoke rolling out of it and ice everywhere, but otherwise the fire was about out.

"I don't think so, but this was one heck of a fire. I believe arson may be the cause," he informed looking at the building. "It was suddenly up in flames and we're not sure if anyone got caught in the moments before we got here." Phantom narrowed his eyes at the building.

"Was it started on the first floor at the door?" he asked as he looked back at the chief. He nodded.

"That's what the 911 calls said. It had spread by the time we got here," he informed. "Do you have anything that could help?"

"Probably. There was a string of these things in Amity before I was captured. Me and the chief there started thinking it was the Guys in White trying to draw me out," Phantom explained. "The accelerant won't be easily identified since it's mixed with ectoplasm. It makes the fire burn hotter than normal and spread quickly, but it's easy to put out because it'll burn itself out at a certain temperature. However, since it's set to a building, the fire literally will fight itself, but it'll be too late to really do anything when the ectoplasm burns out and there were already people there."

"That would explain a few things," the chief whispered looking at the hybrid who seemed to be thinking over everything. "And you're going to end up my first suspect because of this."

"No he's not. I with him the entire time, and we saw a couple agents before seeing the fire. They were a few blocks away from the building," Static stated, defending his friend. Johnson nodded writing everything down.

"I'll contact the department in Amity. They might be able to send over some samples for us to compare," he informed. Phantom looked up at him.

"Use personal contact, cover any and all tracks and go though alias. Don't use your real name," Phantom warned. "Just tell him that Phantom asked to, and he'll do whatever you need if it'll help stop the Guys in White. If you try to go though normally, you'll never get a hold of the samples. They have too much reach." Johnson nodded realizing how much the ghost was trying. "Please, I don't know how far they'll go to make sure that those things aren't connected. They've done this and more. Killing is an option to them. I don't want anyone getting hurt because of them coming after me." Johnson nodded realizing how mature the kid was for his age. He didn't want anything bad happening to him for looking into something that should be simple.

"I'll make sure to keep the trail hidden," he promised as he walked away. Static frowned and looked at the hollow building.

"We need the League's help. They're going too far for us to keep up. I need to protect you while trying to protect Dakota at the same time. If they can really go this far," Static cut off, afraid of what they were capable of.

"They could destroy this entire city before the League could do anything," Phantom whispered, making Static look at him. Phantom looked at him sadly. "You know what they had done to me. What do you think they used the information that they learned to create? Clearly not to help humans, but to make weapons in order to destroy people." Static nodded before making his plate start to float off the ground.

"Come on, we have to tell the League about all of this," Static stated as Phantom followed.

* * *

"I'm close," Gear whispered as the screen began to open up. J'onn appeared.

"Gear, Static, this better be important," he warned glaring at them. Static nodded.

"It is, I think I bit off more I can chew in trying to save someone. There's this really big group who managed to almost destroy his entire existence and get rid of any evidence of him ever being alive," Static stated.

"I don't see how that's important," J'onn stated getting ready to cut the connection. Phantom pushed the two away.

"Then you're going to listen to me," he began. "They have created weapons based off what I can do and the powers I have. My powers…I've made mistakes, and if you're not going to take this seriously, then I can grantee that in the next three months, your League will be destroyed by those weapons. Any hero that survives will instantly have a target on their back while both Dakota and Amity Park will be nothing but flat land of what once were cities. They're not going to stop." Static looked at the angered teen. His eyes were bright green with power. He hoped that Phantom was lying, but something was telling him that Phantom had probably already knew what their plans were.

"They've set buildings on fire, killing people just to try to catch me, and once they had me, they…" Phantom closed his eyes and calmed himself. "Let's just say…they wanted me to be their weapon, and I have destroyed the League in a different timeline." Static and Gear both held in a gasp realizing that Phantom had just signed his own arrest warrant for the League. However when the ghost looked up, he was calm and collected. "I've learned from my mistakes, and I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of me. I can't do this alone, no matter how much I wish I could. Static and Gear aren't enough either. We have to stop them before their weapons get to that point. I'm a hybrid, and they've been trying to make more."

"I'll send in a team," J'onn stated seeing the distress in the teen. He could tell that he wasn't lying, but all of this…it was a lot. If the teen believed he could really do that much damage, then they needed to act before the teen did anything insane.

Although something was telling him that the teen was the only thing that was standing in the way of whoever these people were from taking over the world at the moment. It was something he didn't very much like. He needed to do some more work before he sent the team.

* * *

He paced his study as plans formed. Phantom now had some friends that had already a reputation for being the hero. It wouldn't take long now. Phantom would be untouchable. He needed to be stopped though.

"Sir, Phantom's been confirmed in Dakota," Jazz stated looking at the man. He came out of the dark with an evil grin.

"It appears, my dear, that we have to cut off Amity Park and destroy it. Everyone is against everyone and now it's almost a full out war," Masters stated with a grin, making Jazz nod before looking back at him.

"Won't it alert the League?" she questioned.

"If it hasn't already," he informed. "But it's too late. Everything is already set in motion. All I need is Phantom gone or dead. I'm sure the League will take care of that if we play everything right and make sure the entire thing is on him." Jazz nodded before she left with a wicked grin. This was going well, all she needed was for Vlad to keep his end of the deal.

* * *

**Danny: This has been edited by Mai'shardstyle. Dizzly's beta since she's tired of editing her own stories...**

**Me: It's me taking laziness to another level...XD**

**Danny: She's been going crazy this weekend because someone borrowed her horse for trail riding and she wanted to go with it, but her parents said no because they had plans with family...**

**Me: I would've had more fun trail riding...the cookout was boring, and I didn't have my horse...**

**Danny: She's a bit angry, and her horse decided that the first thing she had to do when she got home was stuff her face in the water...**

**Me: I love my goofy horse...she's so silly.**

**Danny: Anyway, she's not dead, and she's slowly crawling out of the hole...**

**Me: Guys, there's talk about Minecraft being put on the PS4...I WOULD DIE HAPPY IF THAT HAPPENED...**

**Danny: I'll go catch her, and also don't forget to review.**


	11. The Stand

Ice Lightening

Chapter Ten

The Stand

_"Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives."_

_~Tony Robbins~_

* * *

Static watched as Phantom slowly slid down a wall and sat on the floor. Gear was trying to figure out if he could get into the Guys In White database and delete research to hopefully slow them down. It was the only thing Phantom really gave them permission to do.

"Danny," Static whispered, hoping that, even though Phantom told the League what he was capable of, they don't come and just take him without doing some research. Anyone of them could destroy the League with the right plan and everything. Just because Phantom had enough and just said it out loud didn't mean he would. He just needed them to listen to them.

Static understood why Phantom said what he did. He needed to show them that even though they were a bunch kids, they were able to put all that aside if something serious came up.

Suddenly, Gear jumped back out of his seat with wide eyes making both Phantom and Static jump slightly.

"What is it?" Phantom asked, slowly standing back up and going over to the computer only to see what was once Amity Park was now nothing but rising smoke and ashes.

_"This was once Amity Park. The Guys in White have stated that their number one enemy, Danny Phantom, has destroyed this city in an attempt at revenge for stopping him the first time…"_

"Richie, turn it off," Static whispered, seeing the pain in Danny's eyes. Gear nodded and turned it off. Static gently pulled the hybrid into a hug as he broke down.

"They didn't do anything wrong…" Phantom whispered as it felt like his heart was being ripped out. "Why would they…"

"We'll stop them, Danny, I promise," Static vowed. That's when Superman and Batman walked in.

"Danny Phantom, I'm guessing," Superman stated seeing the completely lost teen. Phantom pulled away from Static to look up at them with sadden eyes. Static sighed.

"How are we going to stop them?" he asked when Batman pulled out a pair of hand cuffs.

"Phantom's under arrest," he stated as he headed towards the hybrid. Phantom's eyes widened and he backed up into the wall. Static and Gear both stood in front of him.

"He didn't do anything," Static defended. "He warned us what those guys were up to. Why didn't you take that warning? Besides, Phantom couldn't have done anything, he was here with me and Gear the entire time," Static defended. "You can even look at our cameras here, but he was with us the entire time."

"We have sources that say that he can make copies of himself," Superman stated, making Phantom shake his head.

"No, I can't," Phantom whispered, looking at him. "My powers can't handle that much of a strain. It would kill me if I even tried. Even if I was in a better condition, I can't focus that power enough for me to even be able to pull that off, much less even use it in a battle. It's too distracting and draining," Phantom explained.

"So you do have that power?" Batman stated watching the hybrid.

"Not under any amount of control where it would be useful. Usually I end up with a limb where it's not supposed to be," Phantom explained, looking between the two. "But I'm not even sure if I have it anymore. They screwed up enough of my powers that it takes a lot of focus just to use the basic ones that had been second nature to me." Static looked at the heroes he had worshipped at one time with anger. They were accusing the teen just because a few people had way too much power.

"He's had a hard time, he didn't even have access to his powers when I first came across him," he explained, hoping that they would listen. "You can even ask my dad. We found him when we had the center open for homeless to come in and get a hot meal. He was there, and my pops just wanted to help him. That's when I figured out he had powers…well, he figured out who I was."

"How'd he do that?" Superman asked narrowing his eyes at the hybrid.

"I can sense things," Phantom whispered, looking away from them. "I only thought it worked on ghosts at first, but as my powers grew, I became more aware of people and powers they may have. Even though my powers didn't work as well as they should have, I could still tell where was safe and what people to stay away from. That's the only reason I was able to stay safe here." Static looked at him realizing that he probably had run into some of those bad metas.

"How'd you get your powers?" Batman asked, watching as Static and Gear both turned to the young hybrid. They knew parts and knew to carefully tread on the subject. Phantom wrapped his arms around himself.

"I was messing around with things that I shouldn't have been. Got myself into trouble, but they never figured it out," Phantom whispered closing his eyes. "I couldn't let them know." Static sighed and looked at the two heroes in front of them.

"We just need your help in taking down the Guys in White. They've already caused chaos here," Static informed. "We just helped out in a fire that Phantom suspected was set by them to draw him out."

"Why would they do that?" Superman asked. He could barely hear the teen's heartbeat, but it was still there. It was slow and steady, which was completely against what the teen's heart should be doing, but there was something else. Something else sending waves of power though the teen's veins. Something that sounded very odd. Phantom looked up at them, shaking his head.

"Have you ever really heard about me before now? They can't go after league members. Someone will notice, and then they would have an entire superhero army after them," Phantom explained. "Power, what else would they want?" Batman looked the teen up and down before narrowing his eyes.

"How can we trust you? How do we know that you're not just using those two to get to the League and try to shut us down?" Batman challenged. Phantom glared at him from behind Gear and Static.

"How can I trust you?" Phantom asked back. "My family gave me over to them when they did find out. I was trapped in hell for who knows how long. Amity's gone because of it. Everyone I cared about gave me up and cut me up. I have scars to prove it. How do I know that you won't just do the same?" Static looked at Batman and shrugged.

"He has a point," he stated. "I've seen the scars." Superman narrowed his eyes and focused on seeing the skeleton of the ghost's chest. Where his ribs were, there were also lines that were perfectly cut down the middle of each side. There were signs of healing, but he could guess that it was still a sore spot for the ghost. Superman closed his eyes and sighed.

"So, the Guys in White," Superman began. "I'm guessing that the file we have doesn't really give us any information since they were the ones who gave it to us." Phantom nodded.

"Back in Amity, they almost killed five teens because they were trying to find me. They sent missiles into an open area. If I hadn't gotten there in time, they would have killed them," Phantom explained. "They pretend to be the good guys, but they'll kill anyone in the way of what they want, especially when it comes to me." Batman nodded, knowing that Superman believed the kid. He trusted his friend, but this teen…something was off. Almost like he wasn't telling the whole story. Even what he was telling them seemed fishy. Static and Gear believed him, but they had also known him longer. They may not need that much to know or have already figured it out themselves what had happened to the teen. They could've had some proof as to what the teen had been saying.

"They work with the government," Batman stated. "We can't do much more than provide backup if anything really was happening." Phantom tilted his head in confusion.

"Masters bought them out when he became mayor of Amity," Phantom explained. "Otherwise, the government would've shut them down. They had started getting out of hand, and I know that they were going to be shut down, so Masters…" Phantom stopped and closed his eyes. He had forgotten about his enemy…the powers he had. The power he could wield. Phantom held his head. "Crud."

"Danny, what is it?" Static asked as Phantom opened his eyes.

"It was Plasmius," he whispered, looking up at them. "After everything…he was buying time…if Amity's really gone, he's not. He's still planning, and I have no idea what it is."

"Who's Plasmius?" Batman asked, seeing the sudden tension in Phantom's shoulders. Phantom was afraid of whoever this person was and it couldn't be good. Especially if what he told J'onn was correct. They needed to clean this up before anything more happened. They still had to check out Amity Park and who all was there or if the city had been cleared beforehand.

"Plasmius…he has all the powers I do," Phantom whispered, tightening his hold around himself. "I forgot he had taken them over. Man…I could barely beat him before all this happened." Batman narrowed his eyes trying to see anything that would give away what the teen was really after, but the teen seemed honestly down and depressed. "He…he's crazy, and he constantly changing what it is that he wants. At first he wanted me to be his son and leave my da…Jack. And then he wanted m…Maddie."

"They're your parents, right?" Superman asked, catching the teen's slip. Phantom winced.

"I…they….not anymore," Phantom whispered holding himself as Static gently put his hand on the teen's shoulder. Superman nodded remembering that teen said his family gave him up…to be experimented on. He was glad that his adopted parents protected him like they had. He had no idea what he would have done if they hadn't been who they were.

Would he have been able to become Superman? Or would he be looking for revenge and destroy the world? How'd Phantom stay trying to help others? Or was he looking for revenge as well?

Batman watched the tension in the teen's shoulders. He was uncomfortable talking about this. It was personal and painful. He could understand that much, but he still had no idea if the teen was pushing his own agenda or if the teen was truly trying to help.

"So, I'm guessing that Vlad Masters is also this Plasmius character you told us," Batman stated, knowing that the teen had a dual identity. Phantom nodded while leaning against the wall.

"He's had his powers longer than I have, and has more control, but he used it to get power and money," Phantom explained. "He robbed banks at first and then overshadowed people to sell their property to him for nothing." Batman nodded knowing that Masters was on his list of suspicious activity, but he had no idea that the man had this much power. If everything that Phantom was telling them was correct, then they had a problem. He had met Masters before, and to be honest, the man was creepy. He could see him be the bad guy.

"Then what is he planning?" Superman asked, looking at Phantom expecting his answer. Phantom shook his head.

"I…I don't know. I've been trapped in a lab for who knows how long, and I'm lucky enough to at least remember how to talk to people without flipping out," Phantom defended hating that they were questioning him. He only knew enough to know that something big was going to happened and that he couldn't stop them by himself.

"He has point about that," Static stated as Gear started pulling up information on Masters. They had been quiet and letting Batman and Superman ask Phantom what they needed to, but they still never moved from the spots in front of the teen. They didn't want Batman or Superman trying to take him away from them. Phantom had enough issues as it was, and they were finally starting to see how relaxed the teen was. The hybrid was healing with them, and it was a good sign in his recovery.

"So we take down Masters," Superman stated looking at Batman. "It's like Lex, only this time."

"He has a dual identity to hide behind, but he no longer has anything to use against me," Phantom stated looking at them. "He threatened to tell everyone about me if I told anyone about him. I don't care anymore. I don't have anyone left."

"You have us," Static stated, hoping that Phantom wasn't planning on leaving after all this. They didn't want to lose a friend that had become so close. Even if it was pretty quickly, they still felt like he had been there since the beginning. Phantom smiled at him slightly before looking at the heroes.

"I guess I do," he whispered.

"How'd he figure out your identity?" Superman asked wondering how a hero could be so careless. Phantom looked at him.

"I'm the son of two ghost hunters. He was best friends with them in college, his powers allowed him to figure out I was a hybrid, but he didn't put the pieces together until he beat the crap out of me," Phantom explained. "I didn't know all my powers, how limitless they could be. What all they turn in to, it was insane, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was alone, very alone in the beginning." Phantom rubbed his arms hoping to calm the fear that had built up.

"I think most of us know what's that's like," Superman whispered, remembering that feeling. Phantom looked up at them.

"He's threatened to kill my family at times and then would threaten my secret, especially after he managed to take over the Guys in White," Phantom explained. "I never really beat him, we always ended in a stalemate."

"Chess?" Batman asked interested in how the teen seemed to put things together.

"Plasmius was always ten moves ahead of me. He always referred to me as the pawn," Phantom whispered with a sigh. "I was always left to clean up whatever mess he decided to make. There was nothing I could do to prevent it. Even if I tried to prevent something from happening, he would still mess something up and I would have to clean it up."

"We have to figure out how to stop someone that has already gotten that much power without raising our flags," Superman stated looking at Batman. "I mean, Lex, we already knew he was bad news before he got that much power." Phantom looked down.

"Plasmius hides under his human half as an innocent bystander while he plays bad guy openly with Plasmius. I'm sure he sat back and watched you guys deal with Lex, and tried to figure out everything on what to do if he ever did end up against you guys," Phantom informed. "He learns everything he can about his enemies before he decides to engage them. He knew almost everything about me before I even knew anything."

"Dangerous," Batman whispered knowing that this guy could know almost everything about the League. He could have files on every member and their powers and weaknesses. "We'll need to know everything about that you know about him, and about yourself." Phantom nodded.

"I can tell you as much as I can about Plasmius, but I'm not going to tell you everything about me," Phantom warned glaring up at him. "Mainly because saying some of the things said out loud will only make the wounds that much worse." Batman nodded.

"I would like to know more about your powers," Batman informed and then realized that that wasn't the best wording to a kid that had just escaped from a lab. Phantom didn't show how much that had affected him, but Batman could see it in the hybrid's eyes. That's probably what Phantom meant. He didn't want them to know how his powers worked because he didn't want it used against him.

* * *

Lancer held his breath as he watched the fire burn throughout the city. Amity Park was gone. His students…everyone he knew there. His friends…he didn't have family there, but it hurt to know that many young lives were killed because of something he didn't understand.

"Phantom would have stopped it," he whispered realizing that the ghost was probably the only thing that had stopped it from happening sooner. "Everyone there lost their lives because their hero was taken away." He hoped that Phantom was here. He didn't want to feel unprotected again. It terrified him to no end to know that so much was at stake. Phantom was probably the only thing standing in the way at the moment.

Lancer walked farther down the street until he came up to the center that he had heard so much about. It was there to help the troubled kids out of tough situations. He hoped that he could get a job there. All he needed to do was talk to the manager. Robert Hawkins.

He found the man at his desk looking over several different papers. He seemed pretty stressed and not focused on what was in front of him.

"Mr. Hawkins," Lancer called making the man look up and stand.

"You must be Lancer," he smiled kindly, reaching out his hand. Lancer shook it and sat down in the chair that in front of Hawkins's desk.

"Yeah, I'm here about the tutor job offer," Lancer stated. He knew that the job didn't pay much, but he had plenty of money, he just wanted to help people. He didn't even need much. Hawkins nodded.

"Yeah, we have some kids that aren't doing well in school, and they just need that extra push. I see you were…" he paused for a second and looked at the teacher before clearing his throat. "An English teacher at Casper High in Amity Park."

"Yes, but after what just happened there, I doubt any of those contact numbers are usable," Lancer sighed. "I just need a new start, and I know kids here could use some help getting some of their own."

"Alright," Robert smiled. "Tomorrow I have a few kids coming here to do a studying session, if you would like to help them out." Lancer nodded.

"I would love that," he smiled. Robert motioned for him to follow him. He gave a tour of the building and explained what all they had been doing there.

* * *

Snow fell gently over the resting place of the young girl as the winds picked up. The trees rustled as the snow was blown away erasing the three sets of footprints there. It reversed time to back before Lancer arrived.

Before they paid their respects, but the black roses remained on her grave.

* * *

Phantom flew silently over the city. Gear was just ahead of him as they headed to his house. Gear slowed down slightly to fly next to the hybrid.

"My mom's is making chicken tonight," he informed. "She always makes more since Virgil tends to drop by randomly, and then she'll take what's left over to the center." Phantom nodded as he looked up at Gear.

"Okay," Danny whispered making Gear wish he knew what was going on in the hybrid's head.

"I know you hear this a lot in general, but I'm just asking about the moment, are you alright?" Gear asked concerned. Phantom nodded.

"I'm just worried," he whispered. "I don't have any plans or anything, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt. Did you hear anything else about that fire?" Gear shook his head.

"No, not yet," he lied. He didn't want the hybrid to know that three people lost their lives in the fire. He didn't need that kind of stress. He hadn't been gaining enough weight as it was. They had been seeing improvement in the first few days, but now Phantom seemed to have stopped. Gear knew that stress was the reason.

At least they were able to get him up enough to be able to use his powers.

"So, you don't know if anyone died or not?" Phantom asked looking at him. Gear shook his head.

"I don't think anyone did," he shrugged. Now all he had to do was make sure Phantom stayed away from a TV, but with what he planned tonight, he hoped that watching movies and distracting him long enough to just go to sleep before his dad asks to watch the news would work. He also hoped that his dad didn't flip out on Danny either.

The teen was thin, but since being with Virgil for the past few days, he was cleaner and didn't look like a homeless person anymore. He was still just really thin, and he didn't want his dad to think that he had taken home a stray.

"How long does it take for them to figure it out?" Phantom asked looking at him. "In Amity, they usually had numbers by the first hour for something like that."

"Dakota's also a bigger city, or no one died and they just haven't said anything," Gear stated with a smile, and that was when Backpack alerted him to say that the number of deaths in the fire just went up two more bodies. He looked down to avoid the hybrid's glaze.

"What is it?" Phantom asked slowly getting closer until Gear looked up at him and he backed away.

"Nothing," Gear smiled hoping that Phantom couldn't see past it. Phantom backed away before stopping in midair.

"May be this was a bad idea," Phantom whispered looking back. Gear reached out to him and he backed away. "You're lying to me, and I don't know why." Gear sighed before looking down.

"I've had the report about how many died in the fire for the past three hours," he whispered. Phantom stiffened.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Phantom asked confused making Gear cross his arms.

"Because, you would just sit there and blame yourself the entire time. I was trying to prevent you from doing that," Gear explained. "You've already stressed yourself out enough. I didn't want to add more to it."

"Then don't lie to me," Phantom whispered. "I don't like being lied to, it's more stressful than you telling me." Gear nodded.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I just didn't want you blaming yourself. I'm still not telling you though," Gear stated as he motioned for the teen to follow him. "Come on. I'm sure my mom is wondering where I am, and I still have to talk to her about you staying." Phantom nodded before following him to his home. They landed back behind it. Gear put his normal clothes on as Phantom changed back into Danny.

"You know, yours is so much easier since you can just think about it, and ta-da, you've changed," Richie muttered with a grin. Danny smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I guess so. I never really thought about it," he smiled as they walked around to the front of the house.

"Mom," Richie called out as he entered. He looked around and no one seemed to be home. "Huh, she might be at the store." Danny nodded as he pulled on the sleeves of the blue shirt Robert had given him. Richie looked at him with a sad smile.

"I really hope they don't ask questions," Danny whispered. "I don't want to drag anymore people into this mess."

"They usually don't," Richie smiled. "If they do, I'll tell that you just don't like to talk about these kind of things. They don't pry too much if you don't want them too, but my dad can be intimating," Richie informed as he walked into the kitchen to see a note from his mom that said she was at the store still.

"Yeah, that should've been something to say before we agreed to this," Danny muttered. "A kid who already has enough people issues probably will freak out." Richie grinned.

"I'll tell him you have issues," Richie informed as he out his arm around Danny. "Besides, I think you'll be fine, he's more protective intimating than I want to kill intimating." Danny shook his head and let a smile appear. He wasn't quite as skittish as he was when they first found him. He knew that from Richie using him as a lean board.

"Thanks, because the difference there will help," Danny smiled. Richie was glad that the hybrid could still smile and joke around. Even if it was about his own problems, he at least acknowledged them and was working on getting over them. Richie shrugged as he pulled Danny into a head lock.

"Yeah, of course it does," Richie smiled as Danny pulled away from him instead of going intangible. "Besides, I think you can handle it now. You're more relaxed now than you were before."

"Richie, I'm home," Maggie called out as she held a armful of bags. "Can you help me? There's more in the car."

"Alright, I brought a friend over too," Richie stated as he took some of the bags from her. "This is Danny." The woman blinked and looked the teen up and down.

"I thought you only had one friend," she grinned making Richie blush slightly.

"Naw, I just don't talk about them as much," he smiled covering himself. He needed to play it off as if he knew Danny longer than they did.

"It's nice to meet you," Danny smiled. Maggie reached a hand out, but Danny just shook his head.

"He doesn't do well with people. We met him at the center, and he's just had a hard time," Richie explained realizing that Danny was fine around them and them messing around, but he still wasn't letting strangers that he didn't know anywhere near him. Maggie pulled her hand back realizing that maybe the teen had been abused and didn't do well with adults.

"Oh, well, we're having pizza tonight, and your father should be home in about an hour," she informed. "But I need you to get the rest of the bags from the car."

"On it," Richie smiled pulling Danny with him. "Okay, so , shaking hands with strangers. Need to work on that, and apparently we're having pizza instead."

"Sorry, but I'm…just not sure about it," Danny whispered as Richie started pulling bags out of the trunk.

"It's okay, but my dad will probably be waiting for you to," Richie informed. "He's…well…you'll see."

"If you knew this, why did you offer?" Danny asked as he picked half of the bags with Richie.

"Because I think getting you use to more than just V's family will help, and we need to keep people off your trail. They don't know who we are, and if we put in different areas to stay, then…"

"It'll be harder to track me," Danny finished. "Thanks."

"Well, that's what we do, make sure people are safe, and that includes other heroes," Richie smiled as they headed back in. "I'll try to talk to my dad before I introduce you. It might make it easier." Danny nodded as he opened the door and followed Richie in.

They set everything on the counter where Maggie was going though some of the bags and putting them away. Danny and Richie set the rest on the counter when she turned to Danny.

"What do you like on your pizza?" she asked watching him closely. Danny felt her eyes on him, and he suddenly felt a little sick.

"Anything's fine," he whispered, and Richie could hear the slight nervousness in his voice. He looked at his mom before motioning for her to stop staring at the teen. She gave her son a confused look before going back to placing the pizza stuff on the counter. Richie walked up to her.

"Mom, I told you that I had a friend staying," he whispered slightly annoyed with how she was treating the hybrid.

"I thought you meant Virgil, not some kid who looks like he was living on the streets last week," she informed glaring at him. Richie swallowed knowing that was exactly what Danny was.

"Mom, he's a good friend, and he's just been though a lot. His parents tried to kill him, and he's just trying to get back to normal now," Richie informed. "I want to help him."

"So inviting him to stay without me knowing that," Maggie stated. Richie sighed and looked at Danny who he knew could hear them.

"Mom, being in a normal life will help him heal," Richie informed. "Come on, I know he's a good kid, and he deserves that chance." Maggie smiled.

"Alright, but it's still your turn to do the dishes," she informed as she turned around and carried a few items to the fridge.

"Oh man," Richie groaned and looked at Danny who was grinning.

"I'm not helping you. I've already done them at Virgil's," he informed as he unpacked the last bag. Richie grumbled.

"Great," Richie muttered as he started putting some of the things away.

"Richie, your dad wanted you to also take the trash out," Maggie informed as she walked back to them and got a few more items while he picked up the bag and dragged it outside, grumbling the entire time. "I'm sorry about earlier; I've just had a stressful day."

"I know a bit about having a stressful day," Danny whispered with a smile. "I've had many of them in a row." Maggie smiled before taking a few of the items and putting them away.

* * *

**Danny: She's been busy and will remain that way. This has just been done for a while.**

**Me: I'll finish this, Black Phantom, and BH before I post another story up, however, I just read a book over the weekend that I was amazed...it was freaking epic and those of you who love DP will definitely like the story.**

**Danny: Fair warning, she had a breakdown at the end of it.**

**Me: I'm also in the process of writing a crossover for it, but I'm not posting it just yet. The book is called _The Darkest Minds by Alexander something..._I can't remember her last name, but its a really good book that's about...the government fearing power that children somehow got.**

**Danny: It's hard to explain, but she doesn't have the book at the moment.**

**Me: But I thought throughout the book...Danny would be like the most epic character in it...he would fit right in...and be a very dangerous player.**

**Danny: Don't forget to review, and remember that now that she had a job, she actually almost has no time for typing stories anymore**

**Me: It saddens me...I was thinking of some of the coolest things while driving to school...**

**Danny: It had to deal with the book that she just finished reading...**


End file.
